Tails' TARDIS Tales
by The New York Bear
Summary: The Doctor lands on Mobius some time during the second season of the SatAM continuity. When he leaves again Tails goes with him. This is the story of their adventures through time and space.
1. Prologue: The King's Private Parlor

**This story is a crossover between _Doctor Who_ and _Sonic the Hedgehog_. Just so you know, this follows Sonic's SatAM continuity. It goes as far as the last episode of that series. I have never read the Archie comics series that supposedly continues the story beyond the end of the TV show so none of that applies here – please don't send me notes saying that "Archie says this or that." Consider this very AU if you like.**

**Anyway Tails has always been my favorite character in the Sonic universe and in the SatAM series he was severely underused. But then along came the "Drood Henge" episode where he was pretty much running the whole show. And I thought, well Tails has always been considered a genius, but maybe he had some help in his education that we never knew about, help which would also explain why he sometimes (often!) wasn't around at all for whole episodes at a time. Perhaps such help that could only come from a certain Time Lord?**

**And so this story was born. The framing device – of telling stories in King Maximilian's private parlor – occurs after the "Doomsday" episode. The first chapter is mostly prologue that basically wraps up the SatAM series in an AU manner and sets the stage for the rest of the saga. Otherwise, for Tails and the Freedom Fighters, the story mainly takes place late in the second season of SatAM, but before "Drood Henge." For the Doctor the story occurs during season 14 of the classic series, specifically after the "The Deadly Assassin" and before "The Face of Evil." At this time the 4th Doctor was traveling alone and we don't know exactly how long he was alone for.**

**With all that said and done I hope you like this crossover. Neither _Doctor Who_ nor _Sonic The Hedgehog_ belong to me. _Doctor Who_ is property of the BBC. _Sonic The Hedgehog_ SatAM is property of Sega and DIC. The only thing that's mine is the story itself. Please read and review; I always appreciate feedback. Constructive criticism is welcome, however no flames please. Enjoy!**

1 – PROLOGUE: THE KING'S PRIVATE PARLOR

King Maximilian Acorn looked out of a window of his recently rebuilt palace. There was no denying that the rebuilding of Mobotropolis was proceeding much more quickly than anyone had dared to hope or expect following the final defeat of Dr. Robotnik and his Doomsday plan by the Freedom Fighters. Events had moved very quickly after that. It seemed it had only been a short time earlier when he himself, along with magician Ixis Naugus, had been imprisoned in the Void. But right after Robotnik's final defeat Naugus had found a way to rescue both of them from the Void without any ill effects. They had arrived back on Mobius to find the king's own daughter, Princess Sally Acorn, mopping up the last of Robotnik's forces, including Robotnik's nephew Snively who had been caught not long after and was now permanently imprisoned.

It had been just over a year since then. The king admitted that he had been most impressed by his daughter; she was no longer the young child he knew from before the coup. She was now over 17 and the years of leading the resistance had left their mark. She was mature well beyond her years and had developed into a very capable leader in her own right. She had also become a very beautiful young woman who reminded the king very much of her mother.

King Maximilian sighed to himself; he had missed so much. When he returned from the Void he found that he had so much catching up to do that he needed guidance of his own. One of his first acts was make Sally his co-regent, to rule with him. This allowed him a chance to get to know all of his daughter's comrades. It also placed Sally front and center of the kingdom's reclamation, rather than removing her from command. This was a very wise decision; it not only helped smooth over the king's own re-introduction to his realm, but it also gave continuity to the leadership between the former resistance and the rebuilding kingdom.

There was no denying that the kingdom was rebuilding faster than anyone could have foreseen. A general clean-up of pollution had occurred and houses were being reclaimed and rebuilt. A lot of the rebuilding had been sped up by the Freedom Fighter's biggest hero, Sonic the Hedgehog, who was now applying his matchless speed to help rebuild the city. With his hands (and feet), and with mechanic Rotor's plans, houses had been rebuilt, streets restored, and even work on restoring parkland and monuments had begun.

The king reflected on the young hedgehog; on the whole he liked him. He had known him first as a young boy; the nephew of one his best friends, Sir Charles Hedgehog (familiarly known as "Uncle Chuck"). When he saw him again during his first (brief) rescue from the Void he had seen the bond between Sonic and his daughter, one that he found had been strengthened upon his permanent return to Mobotropolis. They were the same age and despite their frequent arguments it was apparent to him (and almost everyone else) that they were in love. Although they were still young he wouldn't be surprised to see them married eventually. It would be a good match: with Sally as the brains of the pair and Sonic as the action part of the two they ought to make a good team. And of course Uncle Chuck, recently de-roboticized (first of many victims who were now being restored to themselves through the de-roboticizer) would be there to help.

The thought of Uncle Chuck brought King Maximilian to the main mystery he had been pondering recently. The building of the de-roboticizer had been nothing short of a miracle since for so long all attempts to reverse Robotnik's roboticizing process had failed. It had been done at last, but not by Uncle Chuck, or Rotor, or even Snively. No, the person who built the de-roboticizer was a young two-tailed fox that everyone called "Tails." The king had first met Tails after his return from the Void – he had not been born until after the Coup. No one seemed to know who his parents were; he had been found as an infant in the Great Forest and had been raised in Knothole, mainly by Sally herself, whom the young fox called "Aunt Sally," and Sonic whom he looked up to as a big brother. He was said to be 11 years old now; the king found him to be still very much a child, though a very mature one. He was also very cute and quite attached to those he considered family. When he first met Tails after returning from the Void the king had said to him "if Sally is your aunt, then I must be your grand-uncle!" The young fox had taken the King at his word and called him "Grand-Uncle Maximilian" ever since, and the king liked it.

Tails' real name, according to a note found with him when he was first discovered, was "Miles Prower" but he hated that name so Sonic had eventually dubbed him "Tails" and it stuck. That might be a clue to his origin, the king thought. There had been a general in his service before the coup who had the surname of "Prower" and he had been married. But as far as the king remembered they did not have any children at that time. They were among the many missing now. If Tails was their son the king wondered what had happened to them and why they had been forced to abandon him. It was possible no one would ever know.

Somehow this child had to turned out to be a super genius, with an intellect rivaling, maybe even exceeding, Dr. Robotnik's himself. No one knew just how smart Tails was since he was still growing up but sometimes there seemed to be no limit to his mind. He still had a child's curiosity about everything and he was constantly inventing things in his private workshop on the palace grounds. The de-roboticizer had been his biggest triumph so far.

There was more to the story though; the king knew that Tails had not honed his mind all by himself. There were whispers he would sometimes hear from the Freedom Fighters about Tails; a couple of years earlier he had disappeared from Knothole for some time; when he had returned his mind was much more fully formed than anyone expected and he was soon surprising everyone with what he could do. Sally had told her father that Tails had actually left the planet in the company of an alien who called himself only "The Doctor" who came and went in a craft that seemed to just appear and disappear out of thin air. When the king pressed his daughter for more details she had smiled and simply said that he should ask Tails about it himself because it wasn't her story to tell. The king had been meaning to do this for some time but business had kept him from doing so until now.

One of King Maximilian's chief pleasures since the rebuilding of his palace was to spend evenings with friends gathered around him in his private parlor to swap stories by the fireplace. In particular the king liked to gather various Freedom Fighters there and hear about their lives during the struggle against Robotnik. This was one way he learned about much that he had missed during his exile. Sally was usually at these gatherings, and Sonic with her. The other major Freedom Fighters were often in attendance too, including Rotor, Bunnie Rabbot (now having received her regular leg and arm back from the de-roboticizer), Antoine De-Coolette, the cowardly guard with a crush on the Princess (the king thought that would take care of itself eventually, especially considering how Bunnie had been looking at Antoine in the past months), Uncle Chuck often was there, Dulcy Dragon would fly in sometimes, and even Tails would be there for a while, or at least until Sally sent him off to bed.

Tonight they were all there. It was a chilly night outside and the fireplace had a roaring fire going. Unexpectedly the king turned to Tails.

"I've heard a lot of things about you Tails" he said to the fox, "and I've been impressed with what I've seen you do since I've gotten to know you."

"Thank you Grand-Uncle Maximilian" said Tails a little nervously.

"You're welcome" said the king, "I'd like to hear your story tonight."

"My story?"

"Yes, well one story in particular" replied the king, "I'd like to hear about this person called 'The Doctor.' Everyone says that it's your story."

Tail smiled a little wistfully.

"Oh yes, The Doctor" said the fox, "I miss him. He took me traveling all over the place."

"So I heard" said the king, "but who was he?"

"That's a long story" said Tails.

"Unfortunately" said Sonic from his seat; the hedgehog always did have trouble sitting still for a long time.

"Now Sonic" said Sally, laying a hand on his hand. Sonic smiled at her. From his seat Antoine grimaced.

"The Doctor's an alien" said Sally, "he's not from this planet at all. But you might not know that just to look at him."

"Yeah" said Sonic, "if you just looked at him you'd think he was from the same kind of people as old 'Buttnik."

"An Overlander?" asked the king.

"No" said Tails, "he only looks like one. He's actually a Time Lord."

"What is a Time Lord?" asked the king.

"Well," said Tails, "like I said, it is a long story. I'm not sure where to start."

"Start from the beginning" said the king, "and stop to explain things if you have to."

"Okay" said the fox, "leaning back in his chair, "the beginning? Well it really began the day I found the large blue box in the forest outside of Knothole..."

(To Be Continued)

**A/N - And... we're off! I know this chapter was rather slow and expositional, mostly prologue stuff. It'll pick up a lot in the next chapter. Thanks for reading!**


	2. Episode 1-1: The Mysterious Blue Box

**A/N – Okay from this point forward, except for brief interludes in the king's parlor, you should know that Tails is narrating the story even though I'm presenting it here in third person, and occasionally may have scenes where he's not physically present. Also in this story the TARDIS is able to communicate directly with certain (special) people via telepathy.**

**Neither ****_Doctor Who_**** nor ****_Sonic The Hedgehog_**** belong to me. ****_Doctor Who_**** is property of the BBC. ****_Sonic The Hedgehog_**** SatAM is property of Sega and DIC. The only thing that's mine is the story itself. Please read and review; I always appreciate feedback. Constructive criticism is welcome, however no flames please.**

2 – THE MYSTERIOUS BLUE BOX

It was a beautiful morning in the Great Forest around Knothole. The sun was shining brightly and there were no clouds in the sky. For once things were quiet over by Robotropolis and there were no signs of any Swatbot patrols near Knothole. Sonic was taking advantage of such a rare day of peace by playing with his adopted little brother Tails. They were playing a game called "I hide and you seek me," but which in practice was "I run and you try to catch me – if I let you!" where Sonic was the runner and Tails was the chaser. Naturally this gave the hedgehog an advantage. He would run just fast enough so that Tails would "almost" catch him – only to dart away at the last second.

"Hey! No fair!" yelled Tails after his fifth attempt to catch Sonic.

"There's no such thing as fair when you're dealing with Robuttnik, big guy!" Sonic called back over his shoulder as he sped away deeper into the forest from the clearing they had just been in. Tails prepared to spin his tails, take to the air, and follow after Sonic when he suddenly heard a noise that made him stop where he was and keep still, listening.

The noise was unlike anything he'd ever heard before. It was a sort of VWORP - VWORP - VWORP noise, and it was getting louder and louder while a wind was picking up in the area. Tails dived into some nearby bushes and hid, not wanting to be visible in case it was any of Robotnik's Swatbots.

But it wasn't Swatbots. It was something he had never seen before, but would never forget. Out of thin air a shape began to materialize. After a moment it became clearly recognizable as a large blue box. It had small windows near its top, and on its roof was a light that was blinking on and off. As the box faded fully into existence the VWORP sound gradually died away, the light stopped blinking, and there was silence in the clearing.

For several long moments Tails stayed where he was, waiting for something else to happen. But nothing did. Finally, seeing as how this blue object was no longer doing anything, the young fox crept out of his hiding place and slowly approached it. By all rights he should have run after Sonic, or gone back to Knothole to tell someone of what had happened, but he didn't. Something about this box drove all other thoughts out of his mind. It was as if it was calling to him. Looking up at it he noticed the words "Police Public Call Box" written just below the top.

"What's a Police Public Call Box?" Tails asked himself. He slowly walked around the box to see what else he could find out. The same words were written on all four sides, but one side had what were clearly the doors to go in, although it must be very small in there Tails thought to himself. Still, one didn't see this kind of thing everyday and Tails certainly was adventurous. He reached out (or rather up) to the door handle but it was higher than he could reach. So, spinning his tails, he lifted himself up off the ground until he could reach the door handle.

As soon as he touched the handle he got another surprise. The box was humming with a very faint vibration; he was able to tell that before he touched it and assumed it must be whatever powered the box. But when he touched the door handle he was overwhelmed with a feeling of – _greeting?!_

He let go of the handle immediately and dropped to the ground.

"Did you just say 'hello' to me?" Tails asked out loud.

There was no answer that Tails could hear in actual words but it seemed like the humming from the box changed its pitch just a little. Tails stepped forward and touched the side of the box and again it seemed like he was making contact with – something – in his mind. A bond was starting to form.

"Are you alive?" the fox asked, and although the answer did not come back in spoken words he got the impression that the box was saying _"yes"_ to him in his mind.

"What are you?" Tails asked.

_"I am the TARDIS"_ was the telepathic reply.

"The what?" Tails was confused but not frightened. The feelings he was getting from this box were very friendly, like it was pleased to meet him.

_"You'll know soon enough"_ the box seemed to be saying to him, _"you have such a curious nature. That's one of the things I like about you."_

"Do you know me?" asked Tails.

_"I can see all through space and time from beginning to end"_ he heard _"including things that have already happened, are happening now, haven't happened yet, and those might, or might not, happen. And yes, I know you very well Tails."_

"But how – ?" Tails began when he was interrupted by the sound of a slight creak. One of the doors to the box had opened a bit. The message could not be clearer. With some trepidation Tails stepped forward, pulled the door open further, and stepped inside the blue box.

(To Be Continued)


	3. Episode 1-2: Meeting The Doctor

**Neither ****_Doctor Who_**** nor ****_Sonic The Hedgehog_**** belong to me. ****_Doctor Who_**** is property of the BBC. ****_Sonic The Hedgehog_**** SatAM is property of Sega and DIC. The only thing that's mine is the story itself. Please read and review; I always appreciate feedback. Constructive criticism is welcome, however no flames please.**

3 – MEETING THE DOCTOR

As soon as Tails stepped through the doors he stopped in complete shock with his mouth hanging wide open. What he was seeing was just not possible. It defied everything he had ever experienced in his short life.

He had expected to see a small space. What he saw was a huge space – much bigger than could possibly fit inside such a small box. Without thinking Tails stepped back outside the box, letting the door close most of the way. He then turned left and ran a quick circle around the outside of the box. Satisfied with that he then stepped through the doors again.

"Wow!" was all he could say as he stared at the huge inside of the blue box. It was all gleaming white with indented circles all up and down the walls. On one wall was something that was clearly a view screen. Near the door he had just entered was a brown wooden coat hanger and hat stand that was a few times taller than he was. But it was the console in the middle of the room that really captured Tails' attention. It appeared to be a hexagonal device that was mounted on a pillar in the middle of the room. Each side was covered with various controls that did things that Tails couldn't even begin imagine. And in the center of the console there was a clear glass column which contained more equipment of an unknown kind. On the other side of the room was another open door, and Tails could see that it did not lead back outside.

All this Tails absorbed in the blink of an eye. But before he could do anything else he heard a voice say "Who's there?" Tails' first instinct was to run but he didn't get the chance. From behind the other side of the console, where he had obviously been kneeling down working on something, the most peculiar person Tails had ever seen popped up into view. He looked like a human, like Dr. Robotnik and Snively, but he was much better looking in every way. He was tall, big but not fat, he had a full head of brown curly hair and blue eyes that seemed full of fun as soon as Tails saw him. His dress was a bit eccentric; unlike Mobians, who didn't wear much most of the time, this person was fully clothed, from the shoes on his feet, to his light brown trousers, white shirt, colored vest, and brown overcoat. But the most distinctive piece of clothing he wore was an incredibly long multi-colored striped scarf that reached all the way down to his feet on both sides.

As soon as he spotted Tails his eyes lit up in surprise, but that was quickly followed by a huge grin breaking out on his face.

"Tails?" he asked, coming around the console, "is that really you?"

Of all of the surprises he had received in the last few minutes this was the biggest. A little nervously Tails backed up a bit.

"Uh, do I know you?" he blurted out. The stranger's eyes widened a bit before returning to normal.

"Oh that's right, we are a little out of order, aren't we" the person said. He crouched down towards Tails so as to speak to him from a friendlier position. "That's the whole trouble with time travel, things do tend to get mixed up a bit." He put his hand into one of his coat pockets and pulled out a small bag. "Would you like a Jelly Baby?" he held the bag out towards Tails. The fox looked in it and saw what looked like some candies of different colors.

"I was told never to take things from strangers" Tails said.

"And quite right too" responded the other, "but I'm not a stranger. I'm The Doctor."

"The Doctor?"

"Yes, and to answer your question you do know me, but apparently not yet. I know you though because you will know me. Do you understand?"

"That sounds like a paradox" said Tails.

"Very good Tails" the Doctor said, apparently delighted with Tails' statement "not many people are able to understand that so quickly. And you're quite right" he added cheerfully, "it is a paradox. But sometimes things happen that way so you just have to let the circle run its course. That's usually the best thing to do. Now let me see. Since you're here and you're only meeting me now, that must mean that this is the planet Mobius, yes?"

"Yes."

"Oh good" said the Doctor standing up and giving the console an affectionate pat, "I didn't have any particular destination in mind this time but the old girl must have known it was time for us to meet again."

"Old girl?" asked Tails, "you mean this box? Is it a spaceship?"

"Spaceship, time ship, anywhere you want to go ship really," came the reply, "she's called the TARDIS."

"I know" said Tails, "she told me that."

"She told you – ?" the Doctor broke off in surprise. His eyes went blank as if he was communing with something, then they lit up again. "Oh that's right" he exclaimed, "I forgot you had a bond with her. She doesn't do that very often, and almost never for non-Time Lords. But she really likes you."

"Uh, thanks" said Tails, "what's a Time Lord?"

"That's what my people call themselves" said the Doctor with a little bit of distaste, "a bit arrogant if you ask me, still not without cause. Now let me see, if you're here and meeting me for the first time then that means that right now your friend Sonic is about to come bursting in through those doors followed by a Swatbot. So I would suggest coming over here near me and standing out of the way. In fact, you might want to get behind the console."

Tails was about to reply to this when he heard the distinctive sound of Sonic running in the distance and getting louder fast. Realizing he'd left the TARDIS door open behind him he quickly moved further inside the ship and did exactly what the Doctor recommended. Another second and a blue blur burst through the TARDIS doors and stopped dead.

"What in the name of – ?" Sonic began looking around when there was a loud clank behind him.

"Sonic look out!" yelled Tails from his place behind the console as a Swatbot lumbered in through the door.

"Priority one: Hedgehog" said the Swatbot aiming for Sonic. But before anyone could react the Doctor whipped out a small cylindrical device and aimed it at the Swatbot.

"Oh no you don't" said the Doctor, pushing a button. A high-pitched screech was heard and the Swatbot fell to the floor, completely inactive.

"Hmph" muttered the Doctor, "primitive thing." He looked at Sonic. "Are you all right?" he asked, causing Sonic to snap back to his senses.

"Who are you?" he exclaimed, "what happened? Where am I? Where's Tails?"

"I'm here" yelled Tails coming out from behind the console and running over to his big brother.

"Tails!" said Sonic, "what happened to you? I got worried when you weren't following me."

"I've been here with the Doctor." said Tails.

"Doctor who?" asked Sonic.

"Exactly" said the Doctor, "welcome to my TARDIS."

"Your what?"

"It stands for Time And Relative Dimension In Space" said the Doctor.

"Whatever" said Sonic, "how's it bigger on the inside?"

"It's dimensionally transcendental" said the Doctor as if that explained everything. And perhaps it did to Tails because his own eyes lit up a bit and he said:

"So when I came in through the door I actually entered a separate dimension from when I was outside?"

"Say what?" said Sonic, baffled, but the Doctor seemed pleased.

"I knew you would understand" he said to Tails, then turned to Sonic "don't worry about it. If you think too much it'll slow you down. Just view it as being like your speed: some things just are and that's all there is to it."

"Look pal" said Sonic, "I don't know who you are or what you're doing here, but you better have a good reason for all this. How do I know we can trust you? You look like one of those people Robuttnik comes from."

"Sonic, he just saved you from a Swatbot!" exclaimed Tails.

"Yeah, well thanks, but I could have taken care of him" retorted Sonic.

"But then you would have messed up my TARDIS" said the Doctor, "never mind. You can either trust me or not, but I promise you I am in no way associated with this 'Robuttnik' person."

"He means Robotnik" said Tails to the Doctor.

"Well not him either" said the Doctor and he held out his bag of Jelly Babies to Sonic. "Would you like a Jelly Baby?"

Before Sonic could answer they heard a "beeping" sound coming from Sonic's wrist.

"That's the emergency signal!" exclaimed Tails.

Sonic touched a control.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Ooh Sonic it is mine Princess" came the sound of Antoine's voice, "she eez missing!"

"WHAT?!" yelled Sonic, "Ant, what happened?"

"She and Bunnie, they go out on a mission to Robotropolis some hours ago and not come back" was the reply, "I am not liking this at all."

"Why didn't they tell me?"

"She say to me 'Sonic must have zee day off. He is out playing with Tails. We not disturb him.'"

"Oh great!" said Sonic, breaking the connection. He turned to Tails. "Well you heard Ant. Gotta speed keed!"

"Sonic, wait!" called the Doctor before the hedgehog could run off.

"What?" asked Sonic.

"Your communicator," said the Doctor "we can trace the princess through that. Here." He bent down and removed Sonic's wrist communicator.

"Hey!" called Sonic but the Doctor ignored him. He plugged the communicator into his console and pressed a button.

"Interfacing" said the Doctor, then: "Got it! First let's get that thing out of here – " he strode over to the Swatbot, dragged it to the doors, and tossed it out of the TARDIS, before coming back to the console " – And now let's go get your friends." Turning another switch both the inner and outer sets of TARDIS doors closed. The column in the center of the console began to rise and fall and the VWORP sound Tails had heard earlier started up.

"What's going on?" called Sonic.

"We're taking off" said the Doctor, "Next stop Robotropolis!"

(To Be Continued)


	4. Episode 1-3: A Quick Rescue

**Standard disclaimer: Neither ****_Doctor Who_**** nor ****_Sonic The Hedgehog_**** belong to me. ****_Doctor Who_**** is property of the BBC. ****_Sonic The Hedgehog_**** SatAM is property of Sega and DIC. The only thing that's mine is the story itself. Please read and review; I always appreciate feedback. Constructive criticism is welcome, however no flames please.**

4 – A QUICK RESCUE

It seemed only an instant before the sounds of the TARDIS died away again and the central column became still.

"Well that was unusually smooth" commented the Doctor, "shorter hops are often bumpier than long trips. Thank you old girl" he patted the console absently, "now let's see where we are."

The view screen came to life. It showed a drab, dark corridor.

"Ughh!" said Sonic, "that's a Robotropolis hallway if I ever saw one. But where are Sally and Bunnie?"

The Doctor took Sonic's wrist communicator and gave it back to him.

"I've adjusted it to so that it will lead you directly to your friends" said the Doctor, "provided they still have their communicators with them." The Doctor opened the TARDIS doors. "Bring them straight back here when you find them and I'll get us away" he added.

"Right then, gotta juice" said Sonic and zipped out of the doors.

"Sonic wait!" Tails cried and began to follow but felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked back and saw the Doctor behind him.

"No Tails" the Doctor said, "you must stay here."

"But Sonic might need help."

"He'll be fine, don't worry" said the Doctor. Tails was about to object when he felt another touch on his mind which he recognized as the TARDIS. It was also telling him to stay, and not to worry.

And truthfully Tails didn't have much time to worry. Almost as soon as he was gone Sonic came zipping back into the TARDIS, this time dragging Princess Sally and Bunnie Rabbot behind him. Both of the girls seemed too stunned at what was happening to say anything.

"Right" said the Doctor as soon as they were inside, "that takes care of that. I think we should leave now, don't you?" Without even waiting for an answer the Doctor closed the ship's door, activated the TARDIS dematerialization system, and the ship took off again. Both Sally and Bunnie were gaping at the inside of the Tardis but the others ignored them.

"What happened?" Tails demanded. Sonic shrugged his shoulders.

"He had them penned up in some sort of shielded room which is why Ant lost the signal" said Sonic, "if the Doctor hadn't fixed my communicator I wouldn't have found them."

"Why did he do that?" asked Tails.

"He knew I'd come after them" said Sonic, "he thought he'd trap us all at once. But he didn't reckon with our friend the Doctor here." Sonic turned to the Doctor, "thanks Doc" he said.

"Certainly" said the Doctor busy at the controls. The TARDIS seem to be materializing again because the noise faded out and it came to rest. The Doctor activated the view screen.

"Oh look" he said pointing to the screen, "Knothole, unless I'm mistaken. Your stop." He opened the inner doors. Without waiting Sonic ran and pushed open the outer doors, dragging Sally and Bunnie with him.

"See?" he said, "it's safe."

"Oh mah stars!" exclaimed Bunnie finding her voice, "what is this thing?"

"And who is that person?" Sally demanded of Sonic.

"He's the Doctor" said Sonic.

"The Doctor?"

"Yeah! I wasn't sure of him at first but he is way past cool!"

"Thank you Sonic" said the Doctor, emerging from the TARDIS along with Tails. He looked at the two girls. "You must be Princess Sally Acorn" he said to Sally, "and you must be Bunnie Rabbot. Delighted to meet you at last."

"What are you a Doctor of?" asked Sally, still bit hesitant.

"Everything of course" came the reply, "what else is there?"

"Oh mine Princess!" came a yell, as Antoine came charging towards them, "I am being so happy that you are safe! I was being so worried about – Who eez zat?!" he stopped suddenly noticing the Doctor who smiled in amusement.

"How do you do. I'm the Doctor" he replied genially, pulling out his bag of Jelly Babies and politely offering one to Antoine who brushed it away brusquely.

"Why eez he here?" he demanded.

"Cool it Ant" said Sonic, "the Doctor saved us."

"Yes he did" said Sally turning to the Time Lord, "I still don't understand how but you did. I want to thank you."

"As do ah!" said Bunnie, "and ah must say, that machine of yours is somethin' else!"

"Welcome to Knothole" said Sally.

"Thank you" said the Doctor, "I hope you won't mind my presence for a day or two. I need to make a few adjustments on my ship."

"But Doctor" said Tails suddenly, "would Robotnik be able to find the TARDIS?"

"Tails, if the TARDIS doesn't want to be found it won't be" said the Doctor firmly, "have no fears that Knothole's location will be given away from that."

"Our huts are a bit small for someone of your size" said Sally, "but we can make you comfortable."

"No need" said the Doctor, "The TARDIS has everything I need."

"Can I look around in there?" asked Tails excitedly, "I've never seen anything like it."

"Later honey" said Sally, putting a hand on Tails' shoulder, "it's getting late and we need to get dinner ready."

"After dinner?" pressed Tails.

"We'll see."

"Don't worry Tails" said the Doctor with a smile, "I won't leave before you get a good look at the inside of my ship. Now dinner sounds very good. Do you have any tea in your village?"

(To Be Continued)


	5. Episode 1-4: The Invitation

**Standard disclaimer: Neither ****_Doctor Who_**** nor ****_Sonic The Hedgehog_**** belong to me. ****_Doctor Who_**** is property of the BBC. ****_Sonic The Hedgehog_**** SatAM is property of Sega and DIC. The only thing that's mine is the story itself. Please read and review; I always appreciate feedback. Constructive criticism is welcome, however no flames please.**

5 – THE INVITATION

The rest of the day seemed to pass in a blur for Tails. Before he knew it dinner was over and his Aunt Sally and Aunt Bunnie were putting to him to bed despite his protests of not being tired and wanting to explore the Doctor's ship.

"Tomorrow honey" said Sally kindly, seeing Tails yawn despite his protests, "the Doctor promised he wouldn't leave before you got to look around in there. I believe him."

"So do ah," said Bunnie, "he helped save our lives. Ah like him Sally girl, even if he's a bit strange. Where do you suppose he comes from?"

"I don't know" said Sally.

"I think he's brilliant" said Tails half asleep, "he's almost as cool as Sonic."

The girls laughed a little at that as Tails fell asleep. Once they were sure he was down for the night they quietly left his room and stepped out into the evening.

It was a nice evening; the sky was clear and the stars were twinkling down on the village. Bunnie said "good night" to Sally and went off to her own hut. Sally turned towards her own sleeping quarters when she heard footsteps. Turning around she saw the Doctor approaching.

"Princess Sally" he said, "might I have a word with you?"

"Just Sally" she replied, "we don't stand on ceremony."

"Good for you" said the Doctor cheerfully, "nasty thing ceremony; it tends to bore you to death if you let it; I don't have much use for it very often myself, and I make a point of never standing on it if at all possible. Besides, my scarf tends to get in the way." Sally grinned.

"What can I do for you Doctor?" she asked.

"Actually I was hoping to speak to both you and Sonic..."

************************************************************************************

The next morning after breakfast was over Sally and Sonic took Tails aside to talk to him. They went to sit by the power ring pool for some privacy.

"Tails, honey" began Sally, "Sonic and I had a long talk with the Doctor last night."

"Really?" asked the fox, eyes eager.

"Oh yeah" said Sonic, "that ship of his is way past cool – but you already know that."

"He showed you around?" Tails said, his disappointment obvious.

"No, actually he didn't" replied Sally, "we were only in that first room of his, where we all were yesterday. He allowed Nicole to interface with the TARDIS."

"Wow!" said Tails, "you must have gotten some great stuff!"

"We'll see" said Sally, "but the reason we wanted to talk to you is because the Doctor is going to be leaving soon, and he said that when he does, he's inviting you to go with him."

There was a silence as Tails took that in.

"He wants – me" he finally said, "to – go with him? In his ship?"

"For a little while" put in Sonic, "he said he'll bring you back fairly soon."

"Just me?"

"Just you" Sally nodded.

"Wow!" said Tails, "but why me?"

"He said" Sally stated, "that you'd get a lot more out of the trip than anyone else would; he says you have a lot of potential – "

"Something we already know big guy" put in Sonic.

" – that he can help you develop – that it would help your education along a lot" finished Sally.

"It probably would" said Sonic, "you know how you always love to explore stuff and build stuff? I bet you'll be able to do tons of that."

"But why just me?" asked Tails, "can't you come too?"

"Tails honey" said Sally, "we're needed here. We can't abandon everyone else to Robotnik."

"Couldn't we all go?" asked Tails

"If we did that then ol' Buttnik would win" said Sonic, "we'd never be able to come back. Besides, the Doctor doesn't need all off us running around the TARDIS. Could you imagine all the trouble Antoine would get into?" he giggled at the thought.

"Honey" put in Sally, "we wouldn't tell you this if we didn't trust him. The TARDIS let Nicole see some of its travel records while they were interfaced. Apparently the Doctor's helped a lot of people in a lot of places. He seems to be a good man – or Time Lord, or whatever he is. Also we'd be able to communicate with you."

"And it's not forever" said Sonic, "and when you come back you'll have the coolest stories anyone's ever heard!"

"Do you want me to go?" asked Tails.

"That's up to you" said Sally, "we'd miss you very much, but at least we'd know that wherever you went, you'd be safe from Robotnik."

Tails thought it over for a long moment before suddenly hugging Sally.

"I'll miss you too Aunt Sally" he cried. Then he hugged Sonic

"Hey, don't get mushy" said Sonic, "you know I don't do that stuff well." But he hugged Tails back anyway.

(To Be Continued)


	6. Episode 1-5: Departure to Everywhere

**Standard disclaimer: Neither ****_Doctor Who_**** nor ****_Sonic The Hedgehog_**** belong to me. ****_Doctor Who_**** is property of the BBC. ****_Sonic The Hedgehog_**** SatAM is property of Sega and DIC. The only thing that's mine is the story itself. Please read and review; I always appreciate feedback. Constructive criticism is welcome, however no flames please.**

6 – DEPARTURE TO EVERYWHERE

When Tails, Sally, and Sonic came back to the middle of Knothole they found the Doctor waiting for them outside of the TARDIS. One look at Tails' face was all the Doctor needed and his own face broke out in a huge grin.

"So Tails," he said, "ready to see the wonders of space and time?"

"How much should I pack?" Tails asked.

"You don't need to pack anything" said the Doctor, "the TARDIS can provide you with anything you need. Pack only what you want to take with you. However let me first see your communicator."

Puzzled, Tails gave the Doctor his wrist communicator. The Doctor began making some adjustments to it. After a minute he gave it back to Tails. Then he took Sonic's communicator and adjusted it, after which he did the same to Sally's communicator.

"There" he said, satisfied with his work, "I've synchronized all three of your communicators so that the two of you" he gestured to Sonic and Sally, "can contact Tails wherever he is, and Tails can contact you in return. So no matter where we go you'll never be out of touch. This will also act as a homing beacon that will help the TARDIS to return to Mobius when it's time for Tails to come home. Oh and Tails, I've also set your communicator to keep strict Mobius time according to Knothole's location so you don't accidentally call in the middle of the night, or at some equally inconvenient time."

"Wow! That's cool" said Tails.

"Past cool!" exclaimed Sonic.

"Thank you" said the Doctor.

"I'm just glad we'll be able to stay in touch" said Sally, "now Tails you be sure to call regularly and let us know how you are."

"I will Aunt Sally" said Tails.

"Are you ready to go then?" asked the Doctor.

"Not so fast" said Sonic, "Tails can't just go jaunting off without saying good-bye!"

"Why not?" asked the Doctor, "good-byes are overrated. I like a quick, quiet departure. So much easier for everyone."

"Sonic's right" said Sally, "everyone will want to see Tails off. Sonic would you gather everyone here? Oh, and could you get Tails' spare shoes, socks, and gloves? The TARDIS may have everything they need, but you can never be too careful."

"On it!" said Sonic and he was off in a blur. Within minutes all of the other Freedom Fighters, including Bunnie, Antoine, Rotor, and Dulcy the Dragon were gathering at the TARDIS, all a bit confused, and Sonic was back with Tails' stuff.

It didn't take long for Sally to explain what was happening, although some of the Freedom Fighters took it more easily than others. Bunnie hugged Tails and wished him a fun trip. Rotor asked Tails to take lots of notes on any mechanical things he saw. Antoine huffed a lot and said "Sacre Bleu! I am not believing zis!" but it was apparent to everyone that he was really envious. Dulcy gave Tails a wet dragon kiss. Finally Sally and Sonic both hugged Tails before releasing him to the Doctor's care.

"Have a blast big guy" said Sonic, "and tell us everything!"

"We'll miss you" said Sally.

"I'll miss you too Aunt Sally" said Tails, "you too Sonic. And everyone else."

"Now Doctor" said Sonic sternly, with his hands on his hips, "you better bring Tails back in one piece. Otherwise I'll have something to say about it!"

"I will"said the Doctor, "well, au revoir!"

"Mon Dieu! He speaks zee language!" exclaimed Antoine. Everyone ignored him.

The Doctor stood aside and motioned for Tails to enter the TARDIS. Tails took a last long look around at everyone, gave a wave, and went through the doors. The Doctor followed, shutting the doors behind him.

Inside the TARDIS Console Room the Doctor took his place by one of the console panels. Tails stood near him to watch.

"Right then. Ready to go?" the Doctor asked the young fox.

"Where are we going?" asked Tails.

"Everywhere of course, where else?" was the enthusiastic reply. The Doctor began working the controls. The central column began to rise and fall.

Outside the TARDIS the Freedom Fighters watched as the light on top of the blue box began to blink on and off. A VWORP – VWORP sound was heard, getting louder as the ship activated. And then, the TARDIS simply faded away and the noise died away after it. The Freedom Fighter were all silent, taking in what they had just seen. As Sonic might have put it, the TARDIS, along with Tails and the Doctor, was up, over, and gone.

******************************************************************************

_In King Maximilian's private parlor the fire was burning low as Tails paused in his story._

_"That's how it started" said Tails._

_"That's quite a beginning" said the king, "I look forward to hearing more."_

_"It'll have to be tomorrow night" said Sally, "it's getting late. Time you were in bed Tails."_

_"Do I have to Aunt Sally? I'm not ti - ti - tired" Tails gave a big yawn as he said this. Sally got up from her place and took Tails by the hand._

_"Tomorrow honey" she said and saying good-night to her father and the others she led Tails out of the parlor. Sonic went with them leaving the others to talk about what they had just heard._

(To Be Continued)

**A/N - So we've reached the end of the first major arc of the story - or if this were a season of ****_Doctor Who_**** I was writing this would have been the end of episode one, where the new companion always goes off in the TARDIS with the Doctor to goodness knows where! As to that there's plenty more story to come - also even though Sonic and Sally didn't go with Tails we will be seeing them again. I imagine Tails will spend time talking with both of them on his communicator sooner or later. We'll start a new part of the story next time. Meanwhile please be kind and give me some feedback. See you soon!**


	7. Episode 2-1: Settling In

**A/N - Hello everyone! Starting a new section of the story today. This chapter's mostly filler I guess, but I always figured that something like this happens with just about every companion the Doctor picks up: sooner or later they must go exploring in the TARDIS. ****_Doctor Who_**** almost never shows this so we rarely get to see much of the TARDIS beyond the console room. Of course if we saw this every time a new companion entered the TARDIS it would get repetitive really quickly, so maybe that's for the best in the long run. Nevertheless Tails has been wanting to explore the TARDIS for several chapters, and now he will get his chance. And as we all know the TARDIS is a big place!**

**Standard disclaimer: Neither ****_Doctor Who_**** nor ****_Sonic The Hedgehog_**** belong to me. ****_Doctor Who_**** is property of the BBC. ****_Sonic The Hedgehog_**** SatAM is property of Sega and DIC. The only thing that's mine is the story itself. Please read and review; I always appreciate feedback. Constructive criticism is welcome, however no flames please.**

7 – SETTLING IN

_The next night King Maximilian brought everyone back to his parlor so Tails could continue his story._

_"Where did you go after you took off?" the king asked._

_"Nowhere at first" said Tails, "the Doctor thought I should get settled in before we went anywhere..."_

"Now then" the Doctor said to Tails as he manipulated the controls on the central console, "we've entered the time vortex and I'm just putting the TARDIS into a holding pattern for the moment. We'll stay right here until we're ready to go somewhere."

"I thought we were already going somewhere" said Tails, a little confused.

"Oh we will" said the Doctor, "but first you should get settled in, find your room, maybe freshen up, all those sorts of things people seem to find necessary."

"Oh okay" said Tails, "where do I go?"

"The TARDIS will guide you" said the Doctor, "and take your time. By all means go exploring like you wanted to."

"How big is the TARDIS?" asked Tails.

"Why don't you find out?" was the reply, "don't worry. The TARDIS won't let you get lost. Beside, you wanted to see what it was like in here, didn't you?"

Tails said "okay" and turned and left the console room, heading further into the TARDIS.

Beyond the console room he found himself in a long hallway with doors on both sides.

"Wow" he said to himself, "I wonder how far my room is?"

_"Not far"_ murmured the TARDIS in his mind, _"take the first right, then the first left, and go through the first door on the right."_

Tails did so, and when he opened the designated door he entered a very comfortable little bedroom, perfectly made to order for him. It looked a lot like his bedroom in Knothole, though without the windows. There was a bed, a desk with a personal computer on it, a chair, shelves, a dresser, a closet, and a connecting bathroom.

_"Do you like it?"_ asked the TARDIS

"Yes!" said Tails enthusiastically. He sat on the bed and began bouncing up and down on it. "I love it!"

_"I thought you might. I remembered it from before and saved it for you."_

"Before?" asked Tails.

_"You'll find out"_ replied the TARDIS, sounding just a little smug but did not elaborate further.

Tails shrugged and went into the bathroom to "freshen up." Once that was done he stood in his room for a moment and wondered what to do before deciding that since that Doctor had told to him explore he would do that.

Upon leaving his room he walked down the hall back towards the Console Room, but upon reaching the first intersection instead of heading back the way he came he took the other way and walked deeper into the TARDIS. After reaching another place where hallways branched in two directions he stopped to consider which way to go. Both the left and right hallways looked the same; both had doors off of them, and both stretched off as far as he could see.

"Which way should I go?" he said to himself.

_"That depends on what you want to do"_ the TARDIS replied, _"are you hungry?"_

"Yes I am" said Tails, thinking it over.

_"Then go left and go into the last room before the next fork"_ the TARDIS said. So Tails did that and found himself in the TARDIS kitchen.

"Yes!" said the fox, "do you have any chili-dogs?"

_"But of course!"_ came the reply. Tails grinned and prepared himself for lunch.

After he'd eaten Tails continued wandering around the TARDIS. This time he just walked without caring where he was going. When he came across doors he would try to open them. Some of them opened into rooms or storage closets or other hallways, and some were locked. When he got tired of walking he spun his tails and took to the air, moving more rapidly through the halls inside the ship.

He came across many different rooms, losing count quickly. There were a whole bunch of bedrooms, all different from each other, which Tails figured had belonged to previous traveling companions of the Doctor's. He also found a medical bay, a swimming pool, a large wardrobe room that had several levels, a bunch of storage rooms, an art gallery, a second control room, a couple of mechanic shops (he really liked these; he also liked the garage that adjoined one of these and contained several ground vehicles), several indoor gardens – or were they indoors Tails wondered, they were so large he couldn't see their ceilings – a gymnasium, and what seemed to be a cloister room for meditation (at least it had benches amongst the garden plants, and pillars that had plants growing on them).

Just when he was starting to think about heading back he opened a pair of double doors and found himself in what was, for him, the greatest room he had seen so far. Stepping through the doors he entered an enormous library.

"Wow!" he exclaimed looking with wide eyes at the library. From where he stood he could see it had several levels, and they were filled with shelves that were stacked to bursting with books – more books than Tails would ever have thought could have existed. The whole place should have been dark and musty but somehow it was light, as if sunlight was coming in from large unseen windows, and the feeling was airy too.

_"Like it?"_ asked the TARDIS.

"Like it?" said Tails, "this is so way past cool! I wish Aunt Sally could see this, or Bunnie and Rotor, or Rosie, or even Sonic – no, he'd be bored. You must have every book ever written in here!"

_"I'm not that big"_ said the TARDIS with a wry chuckle.

"Can I come here whenever I want?" asked the fox kit.

_"Yes. Even if the Doctor says otherwise."_

"Thank you" said Tails.

_"Happy reading"_ was the reply.

Tails didn't know where to start. He went among the shelves and started scanning titles to see what books the library had. There definitely were A LOT of books. Before he had gone too far he came back to the front of the library and found a library catalog computer that he was sure had not been there when he had first walked into the room. Sending another thought of thanks to the TARDIS he went up to the catalog computer and started going through it.

It was there that the Doctor found him a little while later.

"I thought you might be here" said the Doctor, "the old girl confirmed that you'd found this room so I came straightaway."

"This room is fabulous!" exclaimed Tails, "I've never seen anything like it. It must be as big as all of Knothole."

"Maybe" said the Doctor, "I'm sure you'll spend plenty of time here when we're not out seeing the sights. I often come here. A good book is always a good companion and this room is full of thousands and thousands of them."

"Have you read every book in here?"

"Every one?" the Doctor shrugged, "who knows? And even if I have I'm sure there's plenty I've forgotten. If there's anything I need to see the TARDIS can find it for me. Speaking of which, how did you like your exploring time?"

"Incredible" said Tails, "how do you keep from getting lost?"

The Doctor put his right forefinger against the side of his nose and grinned.

"You can't really get lost in here" he said, "if its really necessary the ship will just rearrange things and put you down right next to the Console Room. Yes, she can do that – it's her privilege. Now come along, lots to do, places to see. You'll have plenty of time for reading later and unless I'm very much mistaken you'll soon find the library's been moved right near your room."

"That would be great" said Tails. The Doctor smiled and motioned for Tails to follow him out of the library. He did so. The two travelers turned right outside the library, traveled down the hallway, went through a door, and re-entered the main Console Room.

"I was this close to the Console Room?" asked Tails in wonder.

"Not really" said the Doctor, "while we were talking she moved the library so we could come right back here. But that's not important now. I assume you've had enough time to get settled into your room and get situated. Now then, where would you like to go?"

(To Be Continued)


	8. Episode 2-2: Heading To The Past

**Standard disclaimer: Neither ****_Doctor Who_**** nor ****_Sonic The Hedgehog_**** belong to me. ****_Doctor Who_**** is property of the BBC. ****_Sonic The Hedgehog_**** SatAM is property of Sega and DIC. The only thing that's mine is the story itself. Please read and review; I always appreciate feedback. Constructive criticism is welcome, however no flames please.**

8 – HEADING TO THE PAST

Tails carefully thought over the Doctor's question.

"You said the TARDIS can travel in time, right?" he asked eventually.

"Oh certainly" came the reply.

"Well" said Tails a little shyly, and scratching the back of his head with one paw, "I'd really like to see what Mobotropolis looked like before Robotnik took over."

"All right" said the Doctor, "but we'll have to be a little careful. Time travel into the recent past is always a little problematic. You don't want to run into anyone you already know before you met them. Who is the oldest person you know?"

"Rosie" said Tails, "also Uncle Chuck."

"And how old are they?"

"I don't know exactly" admitted Tails, "but they were both adults when the coup happened."

"Which was 11 years ago from what your records tell me" said the Doctor, "and Sonic and Sally were 5 years old then, so we have to go back at least 16 years to be sure not to meet them. And if Uncle Chuck and Rosie were already adults 16 years ago (which we will assume), we'll need to go back at least another 25 years to avoid them. And then there's Sally's father the king, whom you've never met but the others will certainly remember. So let's make it an even 50 years to begin with, maybe 75 just to be safe. Very well, hang on."

The Doctor threw some switches on the console and the central column began to move again. Tails watched in fascination.

"Do you think I could learn to fly the TARDIS?" he asked after a moment.

"Perhaps" said the Doctor, moving around the console to another panel, "you have a high enough IQ for it. Maybe someday I'll teach you."

"That would be Tres cool" said Tails.

After a moment the sounds of the TARDIS landing were heard and the ship stopped moving and came to rest.

"Now we shall see" said the Doctor activating the view screen. The only thing that appeared on it was a bare brick wall.

"Well that's helpful" muttered the Doctor, "I suppose we'll just have to go outside and see what things look like."

"Is it safe?" asked Tails, a little nervous.

"Oh perfectly" said Doctor airily, "air reads healthy, no radiation or bad chemicals wafting around, we've probably landed in an alley but that's nothing new. The controls say we've actually gone back 100 years which is a little further than I'd been aiming for but now there's even less chance of running into someone you know. Come along Tails." The Doctor hit the door controls and the inner doors opened. He headed to the outer doors and Tails followed.

They were in a narrow alley, with brick buildings on both sides and few to no windows. However up ahead they could see where the alley ended and the clear sky beyond.

"Now let's see where we've ended up"said the Doctor striding down the alley with Tails in his wake. They reached the end of the alley in only a minute and looked out.

Tails' eyes went wide at what he saw. He had often heard from Sally and the other Freedom Fighters (especially Rosie) that Mobotropolis had been a beautiful city before the coup, and he had seen enough images to know it was true, but he still wasn't fully prepared for what he saw once he looked out of the alley.

They were standing on the side of a broad street that ended just a few buildings down to the right where they saw the beginnings of a broad park-like plaza that was covered in grass and bushes, with a few trees scattered here and there. There were walkways through the plaza and fountains and statues lining the paths. On the far side they could see what was unmistakably the royal palace of Mobotropolis, which Tails recognized from the images Sally had shown him. All in all it was a breathtaking sight.

"Wow!" exclaimed Tails as he drank it all in.

"Yes, very nice indeed" said the Doctor, "this planet certainly did know how to build nice things."

"I wish Aunt Sally could see this" said Tails, then suddenly he touched his wrist communicator, "I'm going to call her right now!"

"Ah, I wouldn't" said the Doctor, but Tails didn't hear him as he was busy sending the signal. Instantly his communicator came to life and Sally's image appeared on it.

"Tails? Is that you?" Sally said with some surprise, "that was quick. You've only been gone a few hours. Is everything all right?"

"Yes!" said Tails, "but Aunt Sally you've got to see this!" He took his communicator off his wrist and held it out in front of him so Sally could see where he was. When she saw the images coming through to her she gasped.

"Oh my goodness!" she exclaimed, "that looks like Mobotropolis. But how?"

"The Doctor took me 100 years into the past" came the reply. Sally gulped.

"Oh" she said, "oh. Oh." She looked away. Tails turned his communicator around and looked at her image.

"Aunt Sally are you all right?" Tails asked.

"I – I'm fine" said Sally, sounding rather husky. She looked like she was trying not to cry, "I'm just – surprised. Give me a few minutes."

"That won't be necessary princess" said the Doctor cutting in, "I'm so sorry we've disturbed you. It was a rather rash thing to do. We'll let you go now."

"No!" said Sally, "don't. At least not yet. Let me take another look before you terminate the signal." Tails pointed his communicator back toward the palace and then moved it slowly from side to side so Sally could get a good view.

"It looks almost exactly as I remember" she said after a few minutes, "but not exactly the same. The palace is a little different; my grandfather added a couple of extra wings to it, so my father told me. I guess that hasn't happened yet. But otherwise I could probably walk that central plaza with my eyes closed." She took another look.

"Thank you" she said in a small voice, "I, I have to go. Have a good time, and be careful."

"We will Aunt Sally" said Tails as Sally broke the connection. Tails turned to the Doctor. "She didn't sound okay" he said. The Doctor nodded.

"I'm not all that surprised" the Doctor said quietly, "you need to remember that this is a version of the city your Aunt Sally was born in and remembers. For you this is all new, but for her this was her home and 11 eleven years ago she lost it. Her whole life was snatched away, including her father. Since then she's been dreaming of coming back. Can you imagine what it would be like to see it again as it was, if only for a moment, and know that it might never be that way again?"

"I'm sorry" said Tails looking downcast. The Doctor leaned down and patted his shoulder.

"Don't let it upset you" he said, "you're still new to this. Everyone makes mistakes. Now, shall we take a closer look at that beautiful plaza?"

(To Be Continued)

**A/N - A little sad there this chapter, also ironically so for the Doctor; with the Last Great Time War still far in his future he has no idea just how badly his own words to Tails will someday come back to bite him! Oh well. I hope you all liked this chapter anyway. Thanks for reading!**


	9. Episode 2-3: The Empty City

**Standard disclaimer: Neither ****_Doctor Who_**** nor ****_Sonic The Hedgehog_**** belong to me. ****_Doctor Who_**** is property of the BBC. ****_Sonic The Hedgehog_**** SatAM is property of Sega and DIC. The only thing that's mine is the story itself. Please read and review; I always appreciate feedback. Constructive criticism is welcome, however no flames please.**

9 – THE EMPTY CITY

The Doctor started to lead Tails out from the alley towards the plaza but Tails hesitated.

"Is something wrong?" asked the Doctor.

"Will it be all right for you?" asked Tails.

"Of course it will. Why wouldn't it?"

"I was just wondering" said Tails, "the only other people I know that look like you are Dr. Robotnik and Snively."

"But that's many years from now. They're from this world, aren't they?"

"Well yes – "

"I would hope so, otherwise we would have to go back to your time and deal with an alien invasion. I'm assuming that if they're from this planet then there must be others who look like them too, which means there must be other humans around in addition to animals like you. So let's go meet them."

"Okay" said Tails, and he timidly followed the Doctor out towards the plaza. It was even more beautiful up close than it was from the alley. The two explorers wandered up and down the walkways admiring the various fountains, artwork, and plants. After a little while they stopped to sit on a bench.

"Very nice" observed the Doctor, "your ancestors knew how to build a park." Tails nodded. They sat in silence for a little longer.

"There's one thing that bothers me" said Tails finally.

"Oh? And what would that be?" inquired the Doctor.

"Where is everyone?" asked the fox.

"I was wondering when you would notice" said the Doctor, "this is supposed to be the capital of this kingdom, is it not? And by their very nature capitals are supposed to be noisy, and yet here, except for the water in the fountains, the wind in the air, and ourselves, there's nothing at all. Odd that, wouldn't you say?"

"Spooky" said Tails looking a little scared. It was true. In all the time they had been there they had not seen another living person. The emptiness of the city was eerie.

The Doctor got up and motioned for Tails to follow.

"Come with me" he said.

"Where are we going?" Tails asked.

"To the palace of course" said the Doctor as if it was perfectly obvious, "whenever there's a big mystery the best place to go for information is straight to the top – or to the bottom depending on who seems to have a better prospect of giving it to you. Right now the palace is just across the plaza so I say we start there" and he strode off down the path towards the palace with Tails following.

When they reached the palace they found the front gates to the grounds closed against them. Undaunted the Doctor and Tails began walking along the wall to see if there was another way in.

They had gone about halfway along the wall when a side door suddenly opened ahead of them and a very pale blue hedgehog looked out at them.

"Get in here quickly" he said, motioning toward them while looking around furtively. The two travelers went through the door in the wall which the hedgehog then shut behind them. As soon as they were through the wall the hedgehog motioned for them to follow him a short way into the grounds. He pulled up a concealed trapdoor in the ground and went down a ladder. The others followed. They entered a small chamber which looked very much like a security room, with lots of view screens on the wall over a control desk. The hedgehog turned to his guests.

"What on Mobius were you doing out there?" he demanded sharply, "don't you know how dangerous it is?"

"Actually no" said the Doctor, "we're travelers who have just arrived. I'm the Doctor, this is Tails. And you are?"

"Jordan Hedgehog" came the reply, "in service to the royal family, if I can a find a way to rescue them."

"From what?" asked Tails. Jordan looked incredulous.

"You really don't know" he said, "you must be the only people in the whole city who don't know about them. Everyone else is in hiding until we can figure out what to do."

"Who are they?" asked the Doctor. Jordan flicked a control on the desk and screens started to come to life.

"They showed up a few days ago," he said, "took over the palace and captured almost everyone inside claiming they would upgrade everyone. Since then they've been patrolling the city to try find more of us. Fortunately their numbers are very limited so most of the citizens have been able to keep out of their way. Still, you don't know how lucky you are that you didn't meet any of them."

"Doctor" said Tails suddenly, "are you all right?"

The Doctor's expression had gotten very serious when Jordan Hedgehog said the word "upgrade."

"Who are these people?" he demanded. Jordan worked the controls.

"As soon as I find one I can show – ah! There" and he pointed to a screen. As soon as the Doctor saw the images of the expressionless metal covered humanoid figures his face went from serious to grim.

"Cybermen," was all he said.

(To Be Continued)

**A/N - Oh boy! Looks like stuff just got real! See you next chapter!**


	10. Episode 2-4: Cybermen On Mobius

**A/N - This chapter contains a very passing reference to the First Doctor story "The Tenth Planet" from season 4 of the classic series.**

**Standard disclaimer: Neither ****_Doctor Who_**** nor ****_Sonic The Hedgehog_**** belong to me. ****_Doctor Who_**** is property of the BBC. ****_Sonic The Hedgehog_**** SatAM is property of Sega and DIC. The only thing that's mine is the story itself. Please read and review; I always appreciate feedback. Constructive criticism is welcome, however no flames please.**

10 – CYBERMEN ON MOBIUS

"You know those robot things?" Tails asked.

"We've had dealings" said the Doctor grimly, "and they're not robots. Inside each one is a living brain."

"What?" gasped Tails and Jordan together.

"Oh yes" said the Doctor, "the cybermen were originally all organic humanoid beings from the planet Mondas, which was a long way from here. Over the years they've replaced almost all of the different parts of their bodies with cybernetic parts in order to extend their lives; eventually all of them became artificial except for their brains."

"Living robots?" asked Jordan.

"They've suppressed their emotions too" said the Doctor, "so they might as well be – but not quite. As I said, their brains are still organic."

"But you make it sound like they want to be robots" said Tails.

"There are certain advantages" admitted the Doctor, "but they forgot a fundamental law of nature: when you convert yourself over to artificial parts you can no longer reproduce naturally. One of their main goals during conquest is to make more of themselves, which they do by converting, or "upgrading," the people they conquer into being like them, thus increasing their numbers."

"And they want to do that here?" Jordan asked, aghast.

"I think so" said the Doctor.

"But that's just like – " Tails began, but choked off the words at a sign from the Doctor when he remembered that _that_ was still very much in the future. " – really horrible" he finished lamely.

"So how do we stop them?" asked Jordan.

"That is a very good question" said the Doctor, "here's another one: how much gold do you have available to you?"

"What does gold have to do with it?" asked Jordan.

"Gold is a cyberman's weakness" said the Doctor, "put gold dust in the air around a cyberman and it will choke their respiratory systems. You might say they're allergic to it."

"So all we need to do is get our hands on some gold, turn it into dust and we're good to go" said Jordan, "well why didn't you say so? Be right back folks!"

With that Jordan left the chamber, shooting up the exit ladder before the Doctor could stop him. A second later they saw him on the security screens running across the palace grounds – only he was running much, much faster than they expected. So fast that they could barely follow him with their eyes as he flitted from one screen to the next both on the palace grounds and in the palace itself once he reached it.

"Wow" said Tails, "he's fast."

"Yes he is" said the Doctor, "does he, by chance, remind you of anyone you know?"

"Yes" said Tails, "you don't think – "

"Why not?" asked the Doctor, "these things often run in families. Although I think he's a bit slower than Sonic. The speed trait must refine and strengthen itself down the generations."

"Wow!" exclaimed Tails, "wait 'til Sonic hears about this!" he moved to activate his wrist communicator but the Doctor stopped him.

"Not now" he said, "later."

"Why?" asked Tails.

"Do you think it would be a good idea for Jordan to learn he's going to have a descendent? History could be in flux at this point. You wouldn't want to change anything by accident."

"No I wouldn't" said Tails with a gulp.

"Exactly" said the Doctor, "when this is over you can tell Sonic all about it but for now it's best to keep your future knowledge to yourself as much as you can."

"But aren't we affecting time just by being here?" asked Tails.

"Yes" said the Doctor, "and no. Some points in time are fixed but some are not. To be a successful time traveler you have to know which is which and to stay out of the way when you must."

"But we're not staying out of the way" said Tails.

"No" said the Doctor, "do you think we should?" before letting Tails answer he knelt down to look the fox straight in the face. "What have you learned about the history of this period of your planet?"

"Only what Rosie and Aunt Sally and the others have told me" said Tails.

"And have they said anything to you about a cyberman invasion?"

"No" said Tails thinking it over, "but they haven't told me very much. They said that this was mainly a time of peace – " he stopped in shock.

"Ah" said the Doctor, satisfied, "you're starting to understand. If the cybermen are not stopped the whole history of your planet will change."

"Doctor, we have to stop them!" cried Tails.

"And we will" said the Doctor who then pointed at screen, "ah! Here comes our hedgehog friend." On the screen Jordan could be seen speeding back across the palace grounds. After a moment he disappeared again. Almost immediately they heard noise on the ladder above as he descended down into their chamber. Over his shoulder he was carrying a bulging backpack.

"I'm back" Jordan said, "did you miss me?"

"Terribly" said the Doctor, "what did you find?"

"Not that much" said Jordan, "but maybe it's enough." He emptied the bag. A bunch of golden objects fell out of it. Among them were a couple of crowns, a scepter, a bunch of rings, and other items.

"Good heavens" said the Doctor seeing what they had, "it looks like you raided your kingdom's crown jewels."

"I had to do something" said Jordan, "we can always remake these things. But Doctor, the cybermen are holding the king and queen and their two children prisoner in the throne room. What's worse they're building some sort of large machine in there."

"Can you show me?" asked the Doctor. Jordan flicked a control on the security table. An image of the Acorn royal family appeared on the screen: four chipmunks – two adults, one boy who was in his pre-teens, and a girl who was younger. They stood in the middle of the throne room before a large machine.

"We have to hurry" said the Doctor, "they're preparing to upgrade them."

"No!" said Jordan, smashing a fist down on the controls, "I should have rescued them rather than getting gold." And before they could stop him he was off again.

"This is bad" said the Doctor, "the cybermen will do whatever they can to regain their prisoners. They may learn that we're here."

"What do we do?"

"Follow the hedgehog of course" said the Doctor with a grin, "come with me. And bring the gold. We'll need it." He began climbing the ladder. Tails shoved all of the golden objects back into the backpack and followed the Doctor with it. As soon as they were out in the garden again the Doctor pulled Tails into hiding behind some bushes and took the backpack from him.

"Tails" the Doctor said, "it's not enough to destroy these cybermen. We need to find their ship and learn if these are the only ones or if there are more of them. Could you do that?"

"How?" asked Tails.

"Jordan said that their numbers seem to be limited. Chances are there's only one ship, maybe two, and until they can fully take over this planet they'll keep close together. I'm betting the ship is somewhere on the grounds. Can you find it?"

"I'll try" said Tails, "what will you do?"

"I'll be greeting our wonderful hosts of course. Oh, take some gold with you. If you run into any cybermen jam it in their chest boxes." He reached into the backpack, fished out a pair of golden rings, crushed them into powder with his bare hand, and handed the dust to Tails.

"How did you do that?" Tails gaped at him, awed. The Doctor shrugged.

"Lots of practice" was all he said, "now off you go – but don't try to do anything heroic once you find it. Both Sonic and Sally will have my head if any harm comes to you. Just find the ship and let me know where it is. And be careful!"

Tails didn't need to be told twice. He sped away from the Doctor out onto the palace grounds, but rather than take to the air he did everything he could to stay undercover. This was not that hard as there were plenty of bushes and trees in the royal gardens. However the cover wasn't consistent; now and then he'd have to cross open pathways or go through clearings for flowering gardens. Still, he saw no one as he made his way around the palace.

The ship was behind the palace. It had landed smack in the back gardens some distance from the palace back entrance. It was a sizable ship, but not as big as one would expect for a planetary invasion. There didn't seem to be anyone standing guard around it, but it also appeared to be closed up completely, with no entrances visible. Still, Tails thought to himself, maybe there are more cybermen inside it, or maybe there really aren't that many of them after all. I better let the Doctor know.

(To Be Continued)


	11. Episode 2-5: At The Palace Gate

**A/N - This chapter references the Fourth Doctor story "Revenge of the Cybermen" from season 12 of the classic series.**

**Standard disclaimer: Neither ****_Doctor Who_**** nor ****_Sonic The Hedgehog_**** belong to me. ****_Doctor Who_**** is property of the BBC. ****_Sonic The Hedgehog_**** SatAM is property of Sega and DIC. The only thing that's mine is the story itself. Please read and review; I always appreciate feedback. Constructive criticism is welcome, however no flames please.**

11 – AT THE PALACE GATE

Tails made his way back to where he had last seen the Doctor. Naturally the Doctor wasn't there anymore but it didn't take long for Tails to find him. Right at the great front gate of the palace, that's where he was – and he wasn't alone. Standing with him were Jordan Hedgehog and the four members of the royal family. Unfortunately they were facing several cybermen who had guns pointed at them. The Doctor, however, did not seem in the least put out.

"So you are survivors from Nerva Beacon and Voga" said the Doctor, "how did you escape?"

"We were able to commandeer an extra ship" said the leader of the group.

"And this is all of you that's left? You can't really think you'll be able to rebuild yourselves now."

"The Cybermen have always come back from defeat" came the response, "we will this time too."

"Be that as it may" said the Doctor, "there aren't very many humans on this planet."

"We are not upgrading only humans" said the cyberman, "with the conversion of the leaders of this planet and the rest of the population we will have many new species joining our ranks."

"Never!" declared the king from his place, "my people will never follow you."

"They will have no choice" said the cyberman, "and neither will you. As for you Doctor, we will upgrade you too."

"Really?" asked the Doctor, "no simple deletion this time?"

"With you we can access Gallifrey."

"If the Time Lords let you" said the Doctor, "they're not exactly all that fond of me you know. They certainly won't welcome you and they won't trade for me either so I don't exactly make a good hostage."

"When you have been upgraded we will have all of your knowledge" was the reply, "including how to fly your TARDIS." The Doctor grimaced at that.

"If she lets you in" he said, "which I highly doubt. But I have a counter-proposal. There are many other planets in the galaxy that are unpopulated but are perfectly capable of supporting life. Why not simply relocate to one of those? Then you can adapt and rebuild your race in a more productive manner."

"That cannot be done" was the reply.

"Cannot? Or will not?" asked the Doctor.

"We have talked enough" said the cyberman, ignoring the question, "we will enter the palace now. All of you. Including your seventh friend who is in hiding" and one of the cybermen swung around and pointed to Tails' hiding place. The Doctor looked where the gun pointed and nodded.

"Come out Tails" he said. Tails obeyed. He walked up to the Doctor slowly, always looking at the cyberman until he stood next to the Doctor.

"Walk" said the lead cyberman, motioning for them to re-enter the palace. As they started walking Tails pulled on the Doctor's scarf.

"Not the scarf Tails!" the Doctor said loudly. When the cybermen turned and looked at him he grinned. "You'll have to forgive my friend" he said, "he's young and still a little clumsy. It's that second tail of his you know. He trips over it and goes places he shouldn't." Tails was going to protest but the Doctor gave him a look and he remained silent. As soon as the cybermen were no longer looking at them he looked at Tails and mouthed "well?"

"One ship" whispered Tails hoping the Doctor could hear him. Apparently the Doctor could because he mouthed "good" back to him.

"Do you still have the gold dust?" the Doctor said quietly. Tails nodded. Unobtrusively the Doctor put his hand down to Tails who handed the gold dust back to him.

Once inside the palace again they were taken directly back to the throne looked much like the pictures that Sally had shown Tails except for the big machine that stood in its center and was clearly the machine that was to be used by the cybermen for "upgrading" prisoners.

"I thought I just left this place" murmured Jordan, "today isn't my day."

"Once we have taken full control of this planet" the leading cyberman said, ignoring Jordan "we will turn it into the hub of a new cyber empire."

"Is that so?" asked the Doctor, "well you may find that harder than you think. Planets are such big things after all. So many people, so many places; there are always some you miss."

"It does not matter" said the leading cyberman, "we have the royal family. Once they are upgraded the rest of the planet will inevitably follow their leaders."

"Never" repeated the king, although with seeming less conviction this time.

"Oh don't give up your majesty" said the Doctor with a grin, "I think things are just about to get very interesting." Before anyone could react he grabbed Jordan's hand and shoved the gold dust into it. "Their chest boxes" he whispered to the hedgehog, "as fast you can. Do it now!"

Jordan stared at the Doctor for a second, his mouth open. Then he reacted, and he was as fast as he had seemed to be on the viewing screens. Maybe he wasn't quite as fast as Sonic, but he was fast enough that the cybermen couldn't react in time before he had sped all around the room and jammed gold dust in all of their chest boxes.

The reaction was immediate. All of the cybermen began acting as if they could not breathe, as if their respiratory systems were clogged up, and soon they collapsed to the floor.

"It's not enough" said the Doctor, "we have to take all of them out, and their ship has to be disabled before it can take off, just in case."

"The ship's behind the palace" said Tails looking a bit frightened over what was happening, "Doctor what's happening to the cybermen?"

"Don't think about it right now" said the Doctor, "show me where the ship is. And Jordan, find any more cybermen that you can."

"Right" said the hedgehog and sped away. The king looked like he wanted to say something but the Doctor was already urging Tails out of the throne room before he could.

Tails quickly led the Doctor to the ship at the back of the palace. They found Jordan already there. The ship was open beside him.

"There were a bunch of them in the ship" said Jordan, "and I think they were trying to leave, but I took care of them."

"Good" said the Doctor, "I'll be right back. Wait here" and he entered the ship before Tails could say anything.

"How did you get in?" asked Tails, "the ship was closed when I found it."

"It was open when I got here" said Jordan, "and cybermen were standing by the door. I bet they realized something was happening in the palace and opened the ship to investigate."

"What happened with the cybermen just now?" asked Tails, "what did you do to them?"

"I think" said Jordan hesitantly, "I think I might have killed them. The Doctor said that gold choked their respiratory systems."

"Then they're dead?" asked Tails, "did they have to die?"

"The Doctor gave them a chance to leave" said Jordan firmly, "they couldn't stay here. They were going to convert us into being like them. Would you want that?"

Tails said nothing. In truth the cybermen stirred something up in him that was far to familiar for his liking. It was all too much like the roboticizer.

Before Tails could answer the Doctor exited the ship.

"Get back" he said, practically pushing both Tails and Jordan away from it. It was none too soon. Within seconds they heard the sound of engines starting up. The Doctor broke into a run, Jordan did too. Tails spun his namesakes and flew alongside them.

"You can fly?" said Jordan, amazed.

"Yeah" said Tails.

"That is so cool!" said Jordan, sounding rather like a certain other hedgehog that Tails knew well.

"Thanks!" Tails said, but there was no time to say any more. The ship suddenly took off going up, up, up. The Doctor stopped suddenly and turned to watch, Jordan and Tails stopping with him. The ship climbed higher and higher, getting smaller and smaller. Just as it vanished from view a huge explosion broke out that lit up the whole sky.

"Get down" said the Doctor, throwing himself to the ground, the others doing the same. After several seconds the sound wave hit them followed by the shock wave. Fortunately the sound was a lot louder than the size of the actual shock wave and it quickly subsided.

"I'm glad I sent it high enough" said the Doctor, getting up.

(To Be Continued)


	12. Episode 2-6: A Mystery Explained

**A/N - This chapter wraps up the second major section of this story, or you might say it concludes episode 2 of the season.**

**Standard disclaimer: Neither ****_Doctor Who_**** nor ****_Sonic The Hedgehog_**** belong to me. ****_Doctor Who_**** is property of the BBC. ****_Sonic The Hedgehog_**** SatAM is property of Sega and DIC. The only thing that's mine is the story itself. Please read and review; I always appreciate feedback. Constructive criticism is welcome, however no flames please.**

12 – A MYSTERY EXPLAINED

The king planned for a small celebration to be held in the palace once the Doctor had confirmed to him that all of the cybermen were dead and their ship was destroyed.

"And hopefully" the Doctor finished, "you won't hear from them again. These were survivors of an earlier encounter I had with them, and as far as I know they were the only ones left. If there are others out there somewhere they should not know about what happened here. I would advise you to keep it as quiet as you can. You never know who might be listening."

"We'll keep that in mind" said the King, "what would you advise us to do with the bodies of these cyber people?"

"That's up to you" said the Doctor in a noncommital manner which caused Tails to look up at him in surprise.

"We could probably learn a lot from these bodies" said Jordan.

"But – " Tails began but the Doctor cut him off.

"You might" he said, "but before you do that you might want to consider how much you really want to be like them."

"Not at all" answered Jordan, "but some of their technology might be useful. Perhaps help strengthen people who are getting old, even help them live longer."

"Perhaps" the Doctor's face was an impenetrable mask as he said this. Tails could hardly believe what he was hearing but he felt the Doctor's eyes on him and something in that manner was making him keep silent almost against his will.

"Thanks for everything Doctor" said the king, "you too, young Tails. Must you really leave? We would reward you well for what you have done."

"Thanks but no," said the Doctor with a grin, "you know us – places to go, things to see, much to do. Besides I was never much for pomp and ceremony."

All of them were gathered in the palace throne room. Jordan Hedgehog had immediately been knighted for his actions against the cybermen and would henceforth be called 'Sir Jordan the Speedy.' The Doctor had refused a reward for himself.

"Very well" said the king who then motioned to Tails, "young master Tails at least allow us to give you something."

"Me?" said Tails, amazed, "but I hardly did anything."

"You did enough helping the Doctor and Sir Jordan" said the king, "if we can't reward him we can at least reward you." He gestured for the fox to approach him. When Tails did he motioned for him to kneel. When Tails had done so he produced a gold medallion and placed it around his neck.

"Tails we name you Friend of the Kingdom of Acorn. Wherever you go your name will be remembered in honor here. Keep this medallion as a remembrance of us." Tails was speechless but the Doctor clapped.

"Very good! Very good indeed!" he said, "Tails when you get home you'll be the envy of all of your friends. Well done!"

"Thanks" said Tails, not sure what else to say.

Sir Jordan accompanied the Doctor and Tails out of the palace and out through the front gates to the central plaza. Unlike the first time they had seen it there were now many citizens walking around and enjoying the day.

"Well, I guess this is good-bye Doctor, Tails" said Sir Jordan, shaking hands with both of them, "do you really have to leave?"

"Yes" said the Doctor, "keep up the good work Sir Jordan, and don't stop running!"

"Never!" said Sir Jordan, "if I couldn't run I'd die."

"You sound a lot like a friend of ours" said the Doctor, "it's a pity he couldn't come with us. You two would have liked each other."

"That's for sure" said Tails, "like you he knows how to cause a sonic boom."

"Sonic boom" mused Sir Jordan, "I like that, at least the 'sonic' part. If I ever have a son who can run like me maybe I'll call him that."

"What a wonderful idea!" said the Doctor enthusiastically, "it's been a pleasure to meet you Sir Jordan Hedgehog. Live long and well. Come along Tails" and he began walking across the plaza. Tails followed with a last backward glance at Jordan. The hedgehog gave a final wave and then ran off.

"Doctor why – " began Tails but the Doctor shushed him abruptly.

"I know what you want to ask" he replied, "wait until we're back in the TARDIS, then we can talk."

It wasn't long before they had crossed the plaza and reached the alley where they'd left the TARDIS. The Doctor unlocked the ship and motioned for Tails to precede him inside. The TARDIS hummed an audible greeting to the two of them as they entered, obviously glad to see them again.

"There, there old girl" said the Doctor patting the console, "you know we'll always come back to you." He began working the controls. The central column began to rise and fall as the TARDIS took off.

Once they were in flight the Doctor turned to Tails who looked he was bursting with questions.

"So Tails, Friend to the Kingdom of Acorn" he said with a grin, "how did you enjoy your first adventure?"

"Doctor" Tails said, ignoring the question, "why didn't you discourage them more from studying the cybermen?"

"That's their choice" said the Doctor, "they have to make it themselves."

"But the roboticizer – " began Tails but the Doctor cut him off.

"Yes, the roboticizer" said the Doctor, "you noticed just how similar the 'upgrading' process that the cybermen have is to your Dr. Robotnik's roboticizer? I thought you would. Well it's no accident, which is why we couldn't say anything about it to our friends there."

"Do you mean – " asked Tails who was already working it out and hated it the more he thought about it " – that they don't destroy the cyber bodies? That the roboticizer is influenced by cyber technology?"

"Yes" said the Doctor, "the night before we left your time I spoke with Sally and Sonic. Sally allowed the TARDIS to interface with Nicole. I studied a lot of your planet's records then. Among those records were the plans for the roboticizer. I recognized at once that there was cybertechnology involved in its design, which meant that at some point in your past the cybermen had been on Mobius. Now we've seen how true that is."

"Doctor" said Tails suspiciously, "did you know it was now? Did you take me here on purpose?"

"Good gracious no!" exclaimed the Doctor, "I promised Sonic and Sally to look after you. I've had a lot of experience with the cybermen and I would not knowingly bring you to them. If you might remember I was aiming for a slightly different year then the one the TARDIS brought us to. And you were the one who chose the destination in the first place."

"That's true" Tails admitted, "but why couldn't we have warned them somehow?"

"It's a turning point in time" said the Doctor sternly, "if all of the cyber bodies were destroyed and the roboticizer never built your whole planet's history would be different. While you think that might be better – and maybe it would – it might not. Also who knows if you would even exist in the altered timeline? You have to be very careful with history."

"I guess" said Tails, "I really do have a lot to learn."

"Don't worry about it too much" said the Doctor pulling out his bag of jelly babies and offering one to Tails. This time Tails took it.

"Mmm!" said Tails, eating the sweet.

"I'm glad you like it" said the Doctor, "I find that too few people have a true appreciation of jelly babies. Good to finally find someone who does."

"Doctor" said Tails while he munched on the jelly baby, "you said that the cybermen never had a way to reverse the upgrading process."

"Not that anyone ever knew of, no" confirmed the Doctor.

"But theoretically there would have to be a way" persisted Tails.

"I presume there would be."

"When you interfaced with Nicole did you download those records from her?" asked Tails, "could I study them?"

"Yes, and yes" said the Doctor, "what are you thinking?"

"Well if the roboticizer was created from studying the upgrader, maybe the key to reversing the process can be found there" said Tails thoughtfully, "just because the cybermen never bothered to create a machine to reverse the process, doesn't mean it can't be done."

"Very good Tails" said the Doctor, "the TARDIS can give you access to all of that data if you like. And I bid you good luck with the problem. But I'd advise you to take it slowly. Your friends back at Knothole have been trying to solve this same problem for years. You can study their records too, but don't expect too much of yourself too quickly for your own peace of mind."

"Uh, okay" said Tails.

"Good. Now why don't you go to your room and contact your Aunt Sally and your big brother Sonic? I'm sure they'd love to hear from you."

"Right!" said Tails, "and maybe they can contact Uncle Chuck. He's the one who invented the roboticizer so he can confirm if you're right about the cybermen."

"Oh I am" said the Doctor nonchalantly as he watched Tails scamper out of the console room.

************************************************** ****************************

_The fire was again burning low in King Maximilian's parlor as Tails paused again in his narrative. This time it was Uncle Chuck who spoke first._

_"It's quite true" said Uncle Chuck, "the roboticizer was created after studying the cybertechnology. I'd hoped, though, that since the purpose of the roboticizer was different from that of the upgrading machine that it wouldn't have the same effect of rendering people emotionless and cold. Instead it stole their free will, which is even worse. At the time we didn't know how to reverse the process because the cybermen never meant for upgrading to be reversed so I scrapped the whole project – or I thought I did. We all know how _that_ went. I'm still sorry about it."_

_"Best not to dwell on it Sir Charles" said the king, "you couldn't have known what Sir Julian would do, none of us did. Besides, it's done now."_

_"How come we didn't know about the connection between the cybermen and the roboticizer?" asked Sonic._

_"The technology was kept secret by royal decree" said Uncle Chuck, "the cybermen had scared everyone. Until it could be safely used the government felt it best to put out that all of them had been destroyed."_

_"Do any cyber bodies still exist?" asked Tails._

_"No" answered Uncle Chuck, "the bodies and the upgrader were disposed of long ago, once they'd been fully analyzed."_

_"I still can't believe you met Jordan Hedgehog" said Sonic, "he was my great-great grandfather."_

_"And my great grandfather" said Uncle Chuck, "but none of his children could run like him. In fact Sonic is the first descendent of his to be fast like that. I guess it's a special gene."_

_"Is that why he's named 'Sonic'?" asked Dulcy from her corner._

_"Yes" said Uncle Chuck, "Sir Jordan left a letter that if he ever had a descendent who was fast like him that he should be named Sonic. It took four generations but it finally happened."_

_"I wish I could've been there" said Sonic, "we could've raced. That would have been so way past cool!"_

_"You would have won" said Tails, "fast as he was, you're faster. The Doctor said that might be the case. I guess he was right."_

_"Thank you! Thank you!" said Sonic, getting up and taking a bow. Sally rolled her eyes and stood up._

_"Bed time" she said to Tails who was yawning._

_"Oh Tails" said the king, motioning for him to wait, "do you still have the medallion my ancestor gave you?"_

_"Oh yes" said Tails. He picked up a case that he had been holding in his lap and handed it to the king. Inside was the gold medallion and chain Tails had mentioned. King Maximilian held it up and looked at it. It was a beautiful thing and it shone in the firelight._

_"Mon Dieu" said Antoine who had never seen it before. Truth was only Sonic and Sally had seen it since Tails had usually kept it in its case._

_"The royal seal" said the king examining it, "it's authentic all right. And I will confirm it: you remain a Friend of the Kingdom of Acorn."_

_"Thank you your majesty" said Tails formally, receiving the medallion back from the king before leaving to go to bed._

_Sally stayed with the others after Tails left and her father looked at her._

_"Did you know the full story of the cyberman incident?" he asked his daughter._

_"No" said Sally, "there were too many other things to think about during our time at Knothole. It wasn't until Tails contacted us after that adventure was over that I thought to examine Nicole and see if there was anything about it in her files. You can imagine my shock when I found the full story recorded there, including Tails' part in it."_

_"If you had known in advance" asked the King, "would you still have let him go with the Doctor?"_

_Sally thought this over for a long moment. She finally shrugged._

_"I really don't know" she said, before leaving with Sonic to go say good night to Tails_

(To Be Continued)

**A/N - And that is that. Part 2 is done. In the next chapter we will begin a new story arc, and this time we will get away from Mobius completely and get Tails out further out into the universe.**

**That being said I'm going away tomorrow for about a week and a half and probably won't be able to post the next installment until I get back. In the meantime I would really love to get some feedback. If you're enjoying this story please let me know it. If you have some criticisms I'm open to hearing them. Just want to know what you all think.**

**See you next time!**


	13. Episode 3-1:Learning To Fly (The TARDIS)

**A/N - Well it has been some time since I updated this story. Sorry to keep you all waiting. I have a new installment now for you. Also glad to see people giving me some feedback - and it seems like you like what I'm doing, which is really cool. Thank you! specifically to:**

**dalek - yeah I know who Tails' parents are too! Don't think they're going to be turning up in this story though.**

**A. Lane - Why thank you. Glad you like the story. As for Tails meeting the Daleks, well, oh boy! Don't want to give too much away!**

**Stitchfan 82 - Glad you like the connection I drew. And yes, with Tails telling the story you know he WILL survive (I read "Daleks on Mobius" and didn't like that ending either). By the way your joke is not bad. It's not even really a joke because that's exactly what the Doctor would do!**

**Guest - Thank you!**

**Well I don't know if this is the best way to reply to feedback but when three out of four reviews are from guests I'm not sure what else to do, and I've seen other writers do this. If this is wrong, or there's a better way just drop me a PM and let me know.**

**Now on with the new chapter, in which we're starting a new section of the story. This chapter references the SatAM episode "Ro-Becca" and also the DW episode "Let's Kill Hitler." As always, standard disclaimer: Neither ****_Doctor Who_**** nor ****_Sonic The Hedgehog_**** belong to me. ****_Doctor Who_**** is property of the BBC. ****_Sonic The Hedgehog_**** SatAM is property of Sega and DIC. The only thing that's mine is the story itself. Please read and review; I always appreciate feedback. Constructive criticism is welcome, however no flames please.**

13 – LEARNING TO FLY (THE TARDIS)

_"It was after our adventure with the cybermen" resumed Tails the next night, "that the Doctor took me away from Mobius completely to go to other places. It was also around then that I learned how to fly the TARDIS – from the TARDIS herself..."_

************************************************** ****************************

"You should have seen Antoine" came Sonic's voice, "the look on his face while that robot was proclaiming its undying love for him was priceless!"

Tails was in his room in the TARDIS talking to Sonic over his communicator and getting the latest news from Knothole. He laughed when Sonic told him the story of the robot Rotor had built which had then fallen in love with Antoine.

"Poor Antoine" said Tails, "everything seems to happen to him."

"Yeah well he just asks for it" said Sonic, "you know how he is. But I'm sure you don't want to spend all day talking about the lame stuff that happens at Knothole. How are things with the Doctor. Had any more adventures yet?"

"Not yet" said Tails, "the Doctor said something about me needing to learn some stuff before we went anywhere else and I don't think we're going to be visiting another Mobius time period, so I don't really know what he has planned."

"Well you keep us informed" said Sonic, "we all miss you here."

"I miss you too" said Tails, "speak again tomorrow?"

"You got it big guy" said Sonic, and the two brothers ended the call.

As soon as he finished talking to Sonic Tails heard a knock on his door.

"Come in Doctor" he called. The door opened and the Doctor stuck his head in.

"Oh good, you're not busy" said the Doctor.

"What is it?"

"The TARDIS wants you in the console room right away" said the Doctor grinning like a schoolboy with a guilty secret.

"The TARDIS wants me?" asked Tails in surprise, "why didn't she tell me herself?"

"She said I needed to get some exercise instead of sitting around the library all day" said the Doctor, "that must be why she moved the library far away from here. Just so she could make me sweat."

"Oh" said Tails, not sure if the Doctor was serious or not. He got up and followed the Doctor out of his room.

The Doctor didn't go with Tails all the way to the console room, instead heading off towards the TARDIS kitchen to make himself some tea. Tails entered the console room alone and the TARDIS immediately made contact with him.

_"There you are"_ said the TARDIS.

"Yes, I'm here" said Tails, "what's the matter? The Doctor said you wanted to see me right away."

_"Well it didn't have to be right away"_ came the reply, _"he does tend to exaggerate a bit some times."_

"Oh" said Tails, "what's going on."

_"Come over here by the console"_ said the TARDIS, _"and I'll tell you all about it."_

Tails approached the TARDIS console and, at the TARDIS' further direction stood by the side where the Doctor always stood when opening or closing the doors. Of course Tails was a little too short to see the panels very well, despite their angled sides but he did as the TARDIS asked anyway.

_"Now just hold still for a few minutes"_ said the TARDIS, _"and don't be alarmed while we make full contact."_

Still not sure exactly what the TARDIS wanted Tails tried his best to do as he had been asked. He could feel the TARDIS in his mind making a fuller contact than before because suddenly there was inrush of new knowledge entering his brain. Tails held absolutely still – he could not have moved even if he'd tried – while the TARDIS quickly and efficiently filled him with the knowledge of how to pilot her.

After a few moments the job was done and Tails was released from the TARDIS' grip.

"Wow!" he said when he found his voice.

_"Well you did ask if you could learn how to fly me"_ said the TARDIS a little smugly, _"now you can. Not many non-Time Lords have the know how to do that, but like the Doctor said, your IQ is high enough."_

Tails didn't say anything for several moments while he just stood where he was processing the wealth of knowledge that the TARDIS has just placed in his brain.

"I understand" said Tails slowly, "why the Doctor is always running around the console. You really need several people to pilot you properly."

_"Six is the optimal number"_ said the TARDIS, _"but the Doctor has always done things his own way. He likes the bumpiness. But even with just a second pilot, like you, things can be go more smoothly. His granddaughter used to help him back in the early days."_

"The Doctor has a granddaughter?" asked Tails.

_"Oh yes"_ said the TARDIS, _"you'll meet her eventually."_

Tails did a double take at this. It had not escaped his attention that ever since he met both the Doctor and the TARDIS they had made references to things that apparently involved Tails but of which he knew nothing. Yet whenever he asked about this all the TARDIS would say was _"you'll find out,"_ and the Doctor just made cryptic remarks about time not always being linear. All the fox could do was wait and see what would happen.

After another moment Tails decided to investigate the TARDIS control console more closely. He was not tall enough to see it very well from where he stood on the floor and he couldn't reach the controls from there either so he spun his tails, raised himself up into the air, and slowly began circling the console, stopping to hover at each station to examine it carefully.

There was no doubt that the console was a very complicated and intricate piece of equipment, but through the TARDIS' intervention Tails now found that he understood it fairly easily.

"Interesting" Tails thought to himself.

_"I knew you'd think that"_ replied the TARDIS, _"so, care to take me for a spin around the cosmos?"_

"Yeah!" said Tails enthusiastically, but then he suddenly caught himself up short. "But where should we go?" he asked.

_"I can think of a few places"_ replied the TARDIS, _"I'll give you some coordinates to input and that will be our destination. It's a place the Doctor knows. He has a friend there, and you might learn some interesting things as well."_

"Okay" said Tails and waited while the TARDIS dictated the coordinates to him. Once he had them down he input them into the console in one panel, then flew around to another panel and pushed a few buttons, before finally hovering in front of a third panel and pulling down a lever.

"Here we go!" he cried out in excitement as the console came to life, the column rising and falling as usual.

Suddenly the TARDIS began to shake violently back and forth. If Tails hadn't been hovering in the air he might have been thrown across the room. As it was he moved quickly to avoid hitting the console itself as it shook towards him.

After a moment the TARDIS stopped shaking. With a sigh of relief Tails landed on the floor.

"What happened?" he said, "did I do it wrong?"

_"No"_ came the reply,_ "just some vortex turbulence. Everything's fine now."_

Tails heard footsteps running down a nearby corridor and a second later the Doctor burst into the console room. For the first time since Tails had met him he looked angry.

"What the devil is going on in here?" he exclaimed turning on Tails, "have you been fiddling with the controls?"

"No" said Tails, abashed, "she told me what to do and I did it."

The Doctor stared at Tails in surprise.

"She? The TARDIS?" he demanded, "what did she tell you to do?"

"She explained how everything works" said Tails nervously, scratching the back of his head with his right hand, "and then gave me some coordinates and told me to fly us there."

"Where?" the Doctor asked, moving quickly over to the console to check some readouts. At the same time the noise of the ship materializing was heard. After a moment it died down and Tails realized they'd landed.

The Doctor bent over the controls for a moment longer. Tails wondered if he was going to get chewed out for doing things without permission and prepared for the worst. The Doctor's expression changed to one of surprise. He glanced quickly at Tails and then back to the controls. Suddenly he grinned a huge grin.

"The TARDIS told you to come here?" he said, starting to laugh, "oh this is good. This is very good. Nicely done old girl." The Doctor patted the console affectionately.

"Uh, okay" said Tails, relieved by the Doctor's sudden attitude change, "the TARDIS said you had a friend here – "

"Oh I do" said the Doctor cheerfully, "and you might learn some interesting things too."

"She also said that" said Tails.

"I'm sure she did, and she's quite right," the Doctor replied, winding his scarf more securely around his neck. He then put his hand into one of his pockets and pulled something out. "Here" he said, holding it out to Tails. It was a key hanging from a chain. Tails looked up at the Doctor as he took it.

"Is this a key to the TARDIS?" he asked.

"Certainly" said the Doctor, "in case we get separated there's no point in your coming back here and just hanging around outside, although I daresay the old girl would let you in herself. Still, we can never be too careful. Besides, it's about time you had one; you've earned it. Now since you don't have pockets I suggest you wear it around your neck." Tails did so, putting the chain around his neck with the key hanging right above his chest. The Doctor nodded in satisfaction.

"Actually it rather suits you" he said, "maybe I should make all of my companions carry their keys like that from now. Now come along." He hit the door control and the inner doors opened. He headed towards them. "I have a friend to look in on and it's not polite to keep her waiting."

"Where are we?" asked Tails, following in his wake.

"Come and see" said the Doctor opening the outer doors and exiting the TARDIS.

(To Be Continued)

**A/N - So where has the TARDIS landed this time? Find out in the next chapter. Meanwhile, to anyone keeping track, yes, Tails learned how to fly the TARDIS in much the same way that River Song did in "Let's Kill Hitler." I figured if it worked for her, it would probably work for him. Thanks for reading!**


	14. Episode 3-2: The Lady

**I realize it's been longer than I intended since the last update, but chapter 14 has arrived. It's on the short side.**

**But first some responses:**

**Stallion6 of Deviantart - You're right. The TARDIS is something that many people would wish to see for real - including me!**

**Stitchfan 82 - Thank you. I know the chapter was on the short side. I have no set length. Some will be longer, some shorter. That's life I guess. But hopefully the chapter's quality will make up for whatever it may lack in length. Regarding "The Pirate Planet," I never thought of that, but you're right. The Captain is like Dr. Robotnik. Not only that but his lackey Mr. Fibuli, is even a bit like Snively.**

**As always, standard disclaimer: Neither ****_Doctor Who_**** nor ****_Sonic The Hedgehog_**** belong to me. ****_Doctor Who_**** is property of the BBC. ****_Sonic The Hedgehog_**** SatAM is property of Sega and DIC. The only thing that's mine is the story itself. Please read and review; I always appreciate feedback. Constructive criticism is welcome, however no flames please.**

14 – THE LADY

Upon exiting the TARDIS Tails found himself in the most beautiful garden he had ever seen in his short life. Although he was well acquainted with the Great Forest at home and its many different beautiful faces, he still had to admit that he had never seen anything like what he was seeing now.

A few meters in front of him was a pond; it wasn't too large, but it was perfectly round. A small wooden bridge arched up from near him and crossed the pond to a small island situated in its center. On the island were several beautiful trees of different sorts, and flowering bushes growing around them. On the far side of the garden he saw more trees and bushes spreading around the pond. Nearby on his right he heard the sound of moving water and when he looked toward it he saw a nearby stream rapidly coming over a small waterfall before entering the pond from that way.

Hardly had he had a chance to take all of this in when he heard a voice from his left.

"Lord Doctor" came a high female sounding voice, "you have returned."

Tails turned and looked to his left where he saw a beautiful human woman standing a short distance away facing the Doctor. She was bowing deeply to him with her hands tucked in the sleeves of her robes. The Doctor was bowing in return.

"It is an honor to see you again Lady Murasaki" he said, "I trust you are well?"

"Quite well" was the reply, "and happy to welcome you back to Heian-Kyo. I do wish you would honor us with your presence more often."

"Well you know me" said the Doctor, "I can rarely sit still for long. So many places to go, things to see, people to meet you know."

"Indeed, and have you brought a new visitor to grace our halls?" asked the lady.

"Why yes I have" said the Doctor with a grin, and he motioned for Tails to come forward, "this is Tails."

Tails stepped forward. As soon as she saw him Lady Murasaki gave a little gasp.

"Forgive my familiarity" she said, "I did not realize you were traveling with a kitsune." She bowed deeply to Tails. "Lord kitsune, be welcome to this house. I trust we will be able to make you perfectly comfortable. And no doubt you will wish to visit your kin on the island." Here she gestured to the island out in the middle of the pond.

"I'm sorry" said Tails looking confused, "not to be rude, but what did you call me?"

"Ah" said the Doctor interposing, "you must forgive my companion Lady Murasaki. He is not from here, and I think he finds your term for his kind a little confusing."

"My apologies" said Lady Murasaki, "I do not wish to offend."

"You don't" Tails assured her.

"May I know your name honorable one?"

"Certainly" said the Doctor interjecting again, "Lady Murasaki, this my companion Miles Prower, known to his friends as Tails, from the planet Mobius."

"Ah" said the lady, grasping the significance of what the Doctor said, "you are from another world then, like the Doctor. Then let me welcome you Heian-Kyo, the capital of our fair land."

"Thank you" said Tails, bowing himself as it seemed the expected thing to do.

"And Tails" said the Doctor, "it's my honor to present to you the Lady Murasaki Shikibu, lady-in-waiting to her majesty the Empress of Japan, and a great writer as well."

"You flatter me Doctor" said Lady Murasaki.

"Nonsense" said the Doctor, "how much more of that "Genji" book of yours have you written since I was last here?"

"Several more chapters, but I have yet far to go before it is finished."

"I should hope so" said the Doctor, "large ambitious works like yours should take time to put together. But I'm very much looking forward to hearing the newest chapters."

"That can be arranged" said the lady, "meanwhile won't the two of you come in? I will arrange for tea and refreshments for you both."

"Ah yes, Japanese tea" said the Doctor with a grin, "there's nothing else quite like it on this planet, or any other for that matter."

Lady Murasaki led them into the nearby building that the TARDIS had parked itself in front of and which Tails was able to observe fully for the first time. It was an exquisite looking structure. It was built mainly of wood, but the walls were of a paper that Tails did not know. The roof of the building was slanted on both sides but curved out near the bottom. The lady slid one of the wall's panels to one side, exposing the entrance to a room and ushered them inside. Within they found a mostly bare room with mats arranged in a square around a small table in the center of the room.

"Sit" said Lady Murasaki, "and I will send for some refreshment." And with that she left by another door which she slid open and left open behind her. With both doors open the room, Spartan in its furnishings already, took on a very open and airy feel. The Doctor and Tails seated themselves on the mats on the floor. Tails looked around.

"Doctor" he said, "where are we?"

"We're on a planet called Earth" said the Doctor, "one of my favorite planets in the universe. I often spend time here, mainly in a later time than this one and in a different location, but all times and places of this planet are of interest to me."

"And you've been to this place and time before?"

"Oh yes" said the Doctor, "This part of the planet goes by the name of Japan. It is a very old society. It has lasted for many centuries by now, and it will last for many centuries yet to come. They call this period of its history the "Heian Period" and it's a highwater mark for culture for a long time to come. Some of Japan's most famous writers come from this time. The Lady Murasaki herself is one of them. She's working on a book called _The Tale of Genji_; it's a story that will be read and remembered long, long after her death. Of course neither of us can tell her that, but it's true just the same."

"Wow" said Tails, "she seems very polite."

"That's part of their society" replied the Doctor, "manners are very important here, so mind your "Ps" and Qs."

"I will" said Tails, now a little nervous, "but why did she call me a – what was it?"

"A kitsune?" said the Doctor, "yes, we need to talk about that. Ah, here comes Lady Murasaki again." And so it was. Lady Murasaki reentered the room accompanied by two servants, one of whom carried snacks on a tray, the other of whom carried a tea set complete with cups and a steaming tea pot. These the servants placed on the table and then withdrew to the side of the room near the inner door. Tails noticed that neither of them seemed to be in the least surprised by his appearance. Presumably Lady Murasaki had told them about him before they came in with the food.

Lady Murasaki sat down opposite the Doctor and Tails and began pouring out the tea into three cups which she handed to her guests.

"Please" she said, "make yourselves at home. The tea is very good."

"I'm sure it is" said the Doctor, picking up his cup and taking a sip. "Ah" he said with a smile, "as good as I remember. Tails, try it, I think you'll like it."

Tails picked up his cup and sniffed the hot drink. Finding that it smelled fairly nice he cautiously took a sip. And it was good. It was flavored with some sort of leaves that gave it a very definite pleasant taste. As it was hot Tails was careful as to how much he sipped at a time, blowing on it to cool it a little.

"That's good" said the Doctor seeing Tails' reaction, "now I think we might have a little chat. We have much to discuss."

(To Be Continued)

**A/N - Okay this particular story arc tends toward the time traveling / historical side of Doctor Who where they go into the past and meet famous people from history. However for people who want a cheat sheet here are some notes regarding this chapter (and this story arc):**

**1) This chapter takes place during the Heian Era of Japanese history, roughly between the years 1000-1010 C.E.**

**2) Heian-Kyo was the name of the Japanese capital at this time. After a large city-wide fire some years after this, the city would be rebuilt and be renamed Kyoto.**

**3) Murasaki Shikibu was a real person. She lived circa 978-1014 or 1025 C.E. (the date of her death is disputed). She was a lady in waiting to the empress at the imperial court of Heian Kyo and, as the Doctor said, she was a very accomplished writer.**

**4) ****_The Tale of Genji_**** is the title of Murasaki Shikibu's masterwork. It's often considered to be the world's first true novel and its influence on Japanese literature was immense. It can still be read today, both in Japanese and in translation.**

**And that's that. See you next time!**


	15. Episode 3-3: Concerning Kitsunes

**Okay, new chapter time. I know there's a lot of exposition in this one, but I hope you like it anyway.**

**Stallion6 of Deviantart - Yes, many tails are told of the kitsune; hopefully I have my facts relatively straight about them for this chapter.**

**As always, standard disclaimer: Neither ****_Doctor Who_**** nor ****_Sonic The Hedgehog_**** belong to me. ****_Doctor Who_**** is property of the BBC. ****_Sonic The Hedgehog_**** SatAM is property of Sega and DIC. The only thing that's mine is the story itself. Please read and review; I always appreciate feedback. Constructive criticism is welcome, however no flames please.**

15 – CONCERNING KITSUNES

"Doctor" Tails asked, "what's a kitsune?"

"Ah" answered the Doctor, "well technically it's simply the Japanese word for 'fox' but culturally and actually it means so much more. I think Lady Murasaki would be a better one to tell you the answer to that question."

"But aren't we speaking the same language?" asked Tails, "why haven't I heard this word before."

"Oh good heavens no" said the Doctor, "we certainly are not speaking the same language. It would be a very tame universe that only had one language in it."

"But then how – " began Tails.

"It's a gift of the TARDIS" said the Doctor, "it's telepathically translating for you and anyone you talk to. The only time is doesn't is when it comes across a word that literally can't be translated into another language, like proper names, or words that are so culturally important that to translate them would truly dilute their meaning. 'Kitsune' is such a word for the Japanese. Now I think you should let Lady Murasaki explain, as she really knows more about this than I do – which is something you'll almost never hear me admit to."

"Sorry" said Tail.

"By the way Lady Murasaki" said the Doctor suddenly, "shouldn't you be talking to us from behind a screen or something? I seem to remember that was the normal way for men and women to talk to each other in this time period."

Lady Murasaki giggled.

"Most of the court is away" she said, raising a fan and holding it up to her face, "there are very few people in the palace right now, and you have never been one for rules have you Doctor? Of course if you'd rather – "

"Oh no!" said the Doctor, "not on our account. What's a little rule breaking amongst friends? I'm sure Sonic would agree, right Tails?"

"Yes" said Tails, thinking of how often Sonic annoyed Sally by breaking, or least bending, rules, "he would."

"Then what are we worried about?" asked the Doctor, "please Lady Muraski, tell Tails about the kitsune."

Lady Murasaki bowed following the exchange and sat up again facing Tails.

"So you do not know about the fox spirits that inhabit our land?" she asked him. Tails didn't know how to answer this but fortunately the Doctor saved him the trouble.

"You already know that Tails is not from this world my lady" he said, "it is as I told you once before: out amongst the stars the universe often repeats herself. He looks like a kitsune and may share some traits with them, but he is a Mobian fox through and through."

"I understand" said Lady Murasaki as she turned again to talk directly to Tails.

"'Kitsune' is literally the word for 'fox' in our language, just like the Doctor said" she began, "even though a kitsune is much more than just an ordinary fox. I called them fox spirits just now and I suppose that is a good thing to call them. They are wise and magical creatures who can do many things including changing their shape and speaking like people do. They can be your friend or your enemy depending on how you act towards them. Above all they serve the great spirit Inari Okami, usually as her messengers and helpers. I thought you were a kitsune because you have more than one tail. Although a kitsune is born with only one tail he or she usually grows a second one around the age of 100, and may grow additional tails later on, up to as many as nine. The more tails a kitsune has the older, wiser, and more powerful it is."

Tails listened to Lady Murasaki intently.

"I don't have magic powers" he said, "so I can't be a kitsune."

"I'm not entirely sure about that" said the Doctor, "you can fly – most would consider that magical."

"I can't change my shape" said Tails.

"And you shouldn't want to" said the Doctor, "your shape is fine just as it is. But you still have more in common with kitsune than you realize. You have great intelligence even if you're still young. You can speak to people. And of course you have more than one tail."

Tails perked up at this.

"That I do want to see" he said, "I've always felt freakish because of that. It's really normal for kitsune to have more than one tail?"

"Oh yes" said Lady Murasaki.

"Could I see one?" Tails asked eagerly.

"There is one that lives on the island in the garden" said Lady Murasaki, "he has lived there for many years and is one of the guardians of this house."

"How many tails does he have?" asked the Doctor.

"Go see for yourself" said Lady Murasaki, "or perhaps, no, Doctor you should not go. He likes his privacy and does not like to be disturbed without cause. He'll be more receptive to a visit from Tails than anyone else that he does not know."

"Oh" said Tails, starting to sound a little nervous.

"Do not worry" said Lady Murasaki in a reassuring manner, "cross the bridge openly so that he knows that you are coming. Also do not adopt an aggressive manner. If he does not feel threatened he will not be hostile to you."

Tails took in what the lady said then turned to the Doctor.

"Should I do this now?" he asked.

"Oh definitely" said the Doctor, "you run along and meet the kitsune."

"And you?"

"I'll be all right. Now go."

Tails got up, bowed to Lady Murasaki and left the building. As he headed back toward the garden he heard the Doctor saying "I want to hear the latest chapters of this Genji story of yours."

Tails returned to where the TARDIS was. As he passed it he gave its side an affectionate pat and felt a warm buzz in his mind in return. Then he headed to the pond they had landed by and began crossing the little bridge that led to the island in its center.

Although he wanted to meet the kitsune very much Tails felt quite anxious about what he would find when he reached the island. His pace slowed as he approached the end of the bridge and it was with an effort that he stepped off the other end of it.

When he stepped onto the island it seemed like he entered another world. It was completely silent, without even the singing of birds. He could not see through the bushes and the trees to the other side so he began to push his way past the bushes. Almost immediately the plants surrounded him so thickly that he could not see the pond. It seemed like the island was much bigger than it had appeared from the shore. He pushed his way on, and on, past the bushes and through the underbrush yet he still didn't reach the other side. The whole area seemed suffused with a secret kind of spiritual energy.

Then all at once he pushed past a bush and found himself at the edge of a sizable clearing that he knew at once was much larger than the island itself as he had first seen it. But he had no time to think about this strange development as his attention was immediately riveted on another fox that he saw sitting in the middle of the clearing. This fox was turning its head to look straight at him, as if he had been expecting him all along. This fox was bigger than him; it was clearly an adult. Tails' heart seemed to stop as he looked at the fox. He knew at once that it was the kitsune he was seeking. It had three tails.

(To Be Continued)


	16. Episode 3-4: Yoshi

**I have to admit I really didn't feel like keeping people waiting too long for this chapter so here it is already. Stitchfan 82 & Stallion6 of Deviantart, thanks for the feedback. I hope you enjoy this installment.**

**As always, standard disclaimer: Neither ****_Doctor Who_**** nor ****_Sonic The Hedgehog_**** belong to me. ****_Doctor Who_**** is property of the BBC. ****_Sonic The Hedgehog_**** SatAM is property of Sega and DIC. The only thing that's mine is the story itself. Please read and review; I always appreciate feedback. Constructive criticism is welcome, however no flames please.**

16 – YOSHI

"Well are you going to stand there all day?" the kitsune said in a stern voice, "or are you going to come out here and face me?"

Gulping audibly Tails stepped out into the clearing.

"Closer" said the kitsune. Tails approached him until they were face to face.

"That's good" said the three tailed fox, "now, let me take a good look at you."

Tails tried to keep as still as possible while the kitsune got up and took a slow walk all around him, looking at him from all sides. Every now and then he moved his head in close to Tails' body and seemed to take a little sniff. After making a complete circle the kitsune sat back down facing Tails.

"Well" said the kitsune, "you're an interesting person. I can tell that you're not a kitsune even though you look like one of us; there's no spirit magic in you. However you're not a normal fox either. You have qualities and intelligence that mark you out as being above the normal – yes, you have power and great intelligence. However I can't place it; you smell like nothing I've ever encountered before. Are you even from this world at all? What are you? Speak!"

Tails gulped but refused to be cowed.

"I'm a Mobian" he said.

"A Mobian" said the kitsune, "you are not from this world then?"

"No."

"I thought not. And your name?"

"Tails" said Tails.

"That is not your name" growled the kitsune sternly, "that is only a use name. What is your real name?"

"Miles Prower" said Tails, gulping again, "but I hate it." The kitsune smiled grimly.

"I can see why" was the reply, "did your parents like bad puns?"

"I don't know" said Tails, "I never knew them."

"My apologies" said the kitsune, "well Miles Prower of Mobius, who hates his name and prefers to use the name 'Tails' instead, how do you come to be on this world?"

"I was brought here – " began Tails before being interrupted.

"In what manner?" pressed the kitsune, "and if not by yourself then by whom?"

"Well, um, the TARDIS brought me" said Tails, "at least she told me where to fly to – "

"TARDIS?" interrupted the kitsune again, "I know not what this TARDIS is of which you speak, yet it has a familiarity to it that I feel I should recognize. Continue."

"Right" said Tails, a bit flustered by the interruptions, "the TARDIS is the Doctor's ship – " Once again the kitsune interrupted him, but this time with a visible display of exasperation.

"The Doctor?" the kitsune groaned, "a big man with brown curly hair, a floppy hat, and a long scarf? He's back again?"

"You know him?"

"Oh yes, I remember him" said the kitsune sharply, "the last time he was here he nearly got himself killed – and he seemed to enjoy every moment of it!"

Tails gaped at the kitsune but could think of nothing to say in reply.

"And where is your Doctor now?" pressed the kitsune.

"With the Lady Murasaki Shikibu" said Tails, "they seem to know each other and I think she was going to read him something from a book she was writing. She didn't think he should come with me to meet you."

"She was right" growled the kitsune, "he has the most uncanny ability to get into trouble, and I'd rather he not bring any to my island. Well perhaps the Lady's book can keep him occupied. But you, why have you sought me out?"

"The Doctor, Lady Murasaki, and the TARDIS all said I could learn something from you" said Tails. The kitsune "hmphed" and looked at Tails thoughtfully.

"Perhaps" it finally said, "what is it you wish to know?"

"Anything and everything!" blurted out Tails. The kitsune laughed.

"Nobody knows that" it said, "perhaps you should try something a little less ambitious."

"Uh, okay" said Tails a little timidly, "what is your name? You never told me that."

"You're right, I never did" said the kitsune, "names are powerful things and not to be shared with just anyone. You can call me Yoshi, which means 'good luck'; something the inhabitants of this house think I help to bring them."

"Do you?" asked Tails, "bring them good luck?"

"To some" answered Yoshi, "if they show me the proper respect and I feel they deserve it. The Lady Murasaki Shikibu would be such a person. That's why I tolerate her presence in the building nearest to this island. If they don't do so I see that they are moved quickly."

"Oh" said Tails, not sure what to make of this.

"Come" said Yoshi, motioning Tails forward, "walk with me and let us talk further."

Tails came up alongside Yoshi and the two began walking. Tails noticed that Yoshi walked on four legs while he walked on two as usual. Yoshi noticed this too.

"Is it usual for you to walk on two legs?" he asked. Tails looked puzzled.

"Well yes" he said, "just about everyone does where I come from – well the dragons don't but that's because they're so big, and a few other really large species walk on all fours too, but yes, otherwise we do."

"Interesting" said Yoshi, "how the outward form can be similar yet contain such differences."

"Do you always go on all fours?" asked Tails.

"In this form yes, most of the time" said Yoshi, "of course I can change my form if I wish."

"I can't" said Tails, "how do you do it?"

"Like this" said Yoshi, and without a word his form suddenly shifted from that of a three tailed fox to one of a tall slender human male. Tails gasped.

"Wow!" he said as Yoshi returned to fox form, "that's amazing!"

"Thank you" said Yoshi, "It's very useful to be able to do that."

"Can you become anything you want?"

"Just about" said Yoshi. Tails thought about this while they walked.

"Um" he said after a short silence, "how big is this island?"

"It depends" said Yoshi, "this island is more than just an island if I need it to be. Most of the time when people come out to my island they find just a small island, just like you see from the shore, and they don't see me unless I wish it. Sometimes though it is necessary to receive a visitor in a more formal manner and then I open the gate."

"The gate?" asked Tails, looking around.

"Yes" said Yoshi, "you came through it on your way to the clearing, although you didn't notice. Strictly speaking we're not actually on the island anymore. We've come through the gate to Inari's realm."

"Inari!" exclaimed Tails, "the Lady Murasaki told me about Inari. She said she was 'the one you serve' or something like that."

"Yes" said Yoshi, "she is the one we follow. She knew you were coming and asked me to bring you to her."

"She wants to see me?" Tails asked, surprised, "but how does she even know who I am?"

"She knows many things" answered the kitsune, "come with me. She's waiting."

(To Be Continued)

**A/N - And that is that for now. Things are certainly taking a pretty mystical / spiritual bent this time. Hope you'll come back for the next chapter when it's finished.**


	17. Episode 3-5: Inari

**A/N - Wow! This story has passed 2,000 views! Thanks for reading everyone, and thanks for the support! I'll do my best to keep the quality of the story as good as I can in coming installments.  
**

**So here it is: Tails' meeting with Inari. I hope you like it. Inari is a difficult character to write, being as how I am neither Japanese nor a Shintoist. When handling someone like Inari it's important to always remember the fact that not only is she not yours, but she is a very important cultural figure to a lot of people and needs to be treated with a great deal of respect! Hopefully I have managed to do that here.**

**As always, standard disclaimer: Neither ****_Doctor Who_**** nor ****_Sonic The Hedgehog_**** belong to me. ****_Doctor Who_**** is property of the BBC. ****_Sonic The Hedgehog_**** SatAM is property of Sega and DIC. The only thing that's mine is the story itself. Please read and review; I always appreciate feedback. Constructive criticism is welcome, however no flames please,**

**Extra disclaimer: As stated above Inari does not belong to me either; she belongs to Japan and Shintoism.**

17 – INARI

"We will need to fly there" said Yoshi, "is that something you can do?"

"Actually yes" said Tails, "it's not too far, is it?"

"Not very" said Yoshi. They had come to the foot of a high mountain. The sides were sheer and it could not be climbed. Yoshi pointed up.

"That's where we're going" he said, "up to the top where Inari's city is."

Tails looked up. The mountain went up as high as he could see and even higher. The top could not be seen because the clouds obscured it.

"I see" said Tails. He spun his tails and lifted himself up. This time instead of directing them to move him forward he just let them carry him up higher and higher.

"That's a very interesting way to fly" said Yoshi who was floating upwards at his side, apparently making no effort to do anything yet floating upwards nonetheless, "I've never seen anyone fly that way. Exactly how do you do that?"

"I'm not really sure" said Tails, "all I know is that it works – at least until I get tired."

"If you get tired I will see that you do not fall" said Yoshi.

"Thank you" said Tails as they both continued to rise higher.

After several minutes they hit the clouds and were completely engulfed in white, unable to see far in any direction. Even though he was floating right next to him Tails could barely make out Yoshi's form in the dense mist.

Up, up, and still further up they went until it began to seem to Tails as if this cloud cover would never end. Worse, he was starting to get tired.

"How much further?" he asked Yoshi.

"Almost there" came the reply, and even as he said that the two of them burst through the top of the clouds into bright sun light.

The top of the mountain was quite close now. Tails was able to see, as they crested the top edge, that the summit was a large, slightly bowl-shaped table mountain with a wide top. As he saw what was there he gasped in amazement.

"Wow!" was all he could say. Yoshi looked over at him and smiled a knowing smile.

"Yes" he said, "that is what people tend to say when they see Inari's city for the first time. Is it not glorious?"

Tails could only nod his head mutely. Glorious was a very good word for it. It was almost indescribably beautiful but, Tails reflected, perhaps that should only be expected for the city of a being like Inari. The architecture was similar in style to what he had seen at Heian-Kyo, but much more exquisitely rendered and considerably more beautiful. Also it seemed that not all building entrances were on the ground. Here and there he saw houses that contained entrances on upper floors, and through these he saw kitsune coming and going, usually by flying, although sometimes they would climb up or down instead.

The main inhabitants of the city seemed to be kitsune, and what kitsune they were! If what Lady Murasaki had told Tails was true, that the older a kitsune was the more tails it had, then there were kitsune of all ages here. He saw some with two tails, three tails, four, five, six, and so one. The most distinctive though were the oldest ones: the nine-tailed kitsune. There weren't very many of them but they were quite easy to spot. They differed from the others not only in the number of tails they had, but also in their coloring. Most of the kitsune had orange and yellow fur quite similar to Tails' own fur, but the nine tailed kitsune were completely white. Tails mentioned this to Yoshi and the kitsune nodded.

"If we live long enough to gain a ninth tail we turn white" he said, "those with nine tails are also personal servants to Inari herself – a great honor. They are the wisest and most powerful of us and get treated with a lot of respect. Ah, we're almost there."

He pointed to a small rise in the center of the city. On it was a large building, obviously Inari's palace. Yoshi floated downwards and landed before the front gate. Tails landed next to him. A pair of kitsune, one with four tails, another with five, were standing sentry at the gate. Yoshi saluted them as he approached. He gave them his name and requested an audience with Inari.

"She should be expecting me" he said, "I've brought her the guest she asked for." The five tailed kitsune bowed to them and entered the gate, reappearing a few moments later with a nine-tailed kitsune who greeted Yoshi by name and bid them enter and follow her. They did, through a large antechamber which gave on to a long hallway that led straight through the palace, with many chambers opening off of it on either side. It ended in a large reception room in the back where food was laid out on low tables. Beyond that was another sliding wall which had been thrust aside to open the way outside to the back of the palace. The nine-tailed kitsune turned to Tails.

"She awaits your presence in the garden" she said, then turned to Yoshi and asked him to stay behind and refresh himself. "It's not often I get to see you young Yoshi" she said as she approached and embraced him.

"How do you two know each other?" asked Tails.

"He is my descendant by several generations" said the nine-tailed kitsune, "some of my intervening children and grandchildren and younger generations have gone, but he is still here at least, and so am I."

"It's not easy to live so long" said Yoshi to Tails.

"No it isn't" said his ancestor, motioning for him to come sit by her, "so many things can happen along the way. Now while your friend speaks with our Mistress I want to hear all about how things are in Heian-Kyo." Yoshi sat by her and the two of them prepared to eat and talk. Meanwhile Tails took a deep breath and went out the back door of the palace and into the garden.

The palace garden was a duplicate of the one in Heian-Kyo only even more so, if that makes any sense. It was certainly more exquisitely beautiful and detailed in a way that no mortal garden could have been. For a moment Tails wondered exactly where he was relative to where he had been just an hour ago, and if he was even still in the same dimension or plane of existence. No one was immediately visible to his eyes but it was obvious to him what he was meant to do so he went towards the pond and crossed the bridge which led to the small island in its exact center. Once again he found himself pushing through bushes and past trees on an island that seemed much bigger than it had been from the shore. And once again he suddenly broke through the bushes into a large clearing. And there in that large clearing stood a tall female figure. She was looking straight at him as he emerged, and she motioned him to come forward. Tails had no doubt who it was. He bowed low.

"Inari Okami?" he asked. She nodded, and then spoke in an almost painfully beautiful voice.

"I am Inari" she said, "and I bid you welcome to my realm Miles Prower of the planet Mobius."

"Thank you" said Tails quietly.

"Stand up and walk with me" commanded Inari, and Tails did so, straightening up to his full height and turning so he could speak with the great spirit.

Tails was never sure exactly what Inari was or even what she looked like. Sometimes she seemed to be a tall, beautiful Japanese woman; other times she appeared to be a very large multi-tailed kitsune; and still other times she was both of these, or something else completely. And sometimes she seemed not to have any shape at all. All Tails knew for sure was that she was a very powerful, yet beautiful and benevolent being who was talking to him and somehow knew all about him.

They talked of many things but most of it Tails never revealed later, not even to the Doctor. It seemed to him that a private conversation with a being as powerful as Inari should, for the most part, remain private. But there were some things that he would share, such as how Inari knew of him in the first place.

"I have been to many worlds" she said, "and I can access as many worlds as I wish from my realm. The gate you came through to reach Yoshi was one such gate, specifically for the planet known as Earth. You now have passed a second gate and entered my inner realm. From here I can see whichever world I wish. Behold!"

They had come to a small pool at this point and Inari bent down and stirred the waters. Then she gestured over the pool and bade the water be still again. When it was still Tails looked in the pool and gasped. He was looking at the center clearing of Knothole, as if from just above. There, sitting at table, were Sonic, Sally, Bunnie, and Rotor. Tails couldn't hear what they were saying, but from the plans that Sally had displayed in front of them he guessed they were preparing another raid on Robotropolis. As he looked at them Tails felt a powerful surge of homesickness. Whatever they were planning, he hoped they would be okay. He felt his hand moving towards his communicator and had to physically stop himself from activating it. Once he had himself under control he looked up at Inari.

"Is that happening right now?" he finally asked her. She nodded.

"Do not worry" she said, as though reading his inner thoughts, "they will be fine."

"How long have you been watching us?" asked Tails.

"A very long time" said Inari, "your world and many others. And I don't just watch. When I find a world that needs help I try unobtrusively to lend aid from an unseen place. Earth is different in that I have become known to some of the people here. This allows me to act more openly if I wish. On your planet the actions I, and others in my pantheon have taken, have been much more subtle and attributable to nature, because we are of nature. I have helped the animals on your planet to evolve intelligence over many, many years though they do not know me – and it is better so. But I have kept an eye on your world and I knew when you were born. You are the first of your kind to wear a kitsune's full form. There will be others given time."

"Than I am a kitsune?" asked Tails, "Yoshi said I wasn't."

"You are not a Japanese Kitsune" said Inari, "you do not have the spirit powers they do, but you do not need them for your situation. You are what you are and you will find that it is enough. It will serve you well in the time to come."

"You know my future?"

"I can see potential time lines" replied Inari, "though the future is never set in stone and every choice is a crossroads. How it turns out depends on you, and your friends, and everyone who might affect them for good or ill. Your greatest asset is your mind. Guard it well as its full potential is as yet unrealized. You do not yet know what you are truly capable of and you will not until you look into the Untempered Schism and meet your Destiny."

"The Untempered Schism?" asked Tails, "what is that?"

"The Doctor knows" said Inari, "and speaking of your Time Lord friend it is time you returned to him. He needs your help, for he is in trouble."

"He is?" exclaimed Tails, frightened, "what happened? What do I do?"

"Yoshi will help you" said Inari, "Follow his lead; be a kitsune and it will be enough."

"How?" asked Tails, but Inari did not answer. Instead she pointed back the way Tails had come, bowed to him, and disappeared.

(To Be Continued)

**A/N - And that is that. Hope you enjoyed it. See you next time!**


	18. Episode 3-6: Leaving Heian-Kyo

**So here's chapter 18, and this will wrap up episode 3!**

**As always, standard disclaimer: Neither ****_Doctor Who_**** nor ****_Sonic The Hedgehog_**** belong to me. ****_Doctor Who_**** is property of the BBC. ****_Sonic The Hedgehog_**** SatAM is property of Sega and DIC. The only thing that's mine is the story itself. Please read and review; I always appreciate feedback. Constructive criticism is welcome, however no flames please.**

18 – LEAVING HEIAN-KYO

Tails rushed back the way he had come. When he went back through the bushes he found the way much shorter than before. Almost immediately he emerged at the edge of the island. He looked back towards the clearing but it had vanished. Instead when he looked through the bushes and trees he was able to easily see the other side of the small island. He didn't let this stop him for more than a second though. Inari had said that the Doctor needed his help and he wasn't going to question that. He ran across the bridge and back through the garden toward the palace.

Yoshi was waiting for him when he reached the back entrance.

"Come" said the kitsune. He led Tails back through the palace and out through the front gates. Motioning for Tails to stay with him he became airborne again.

"We need to return quickly" he said to Tails once they were flying, "before it's too late for the Doctor."

"You know?" asked Tails.

"Inari sent word to me" was the reply.

"What's happened?" asked Tails.

"She didn't tell me exactly" said Yoshi as they crested the edge of the mountain and headed out into open air, "she just said that he either did something foolish, or broke a taboo, or insulted the wrong person, or was simply in the wrong place – something like that. I expect we'll learn more when we get there. How quickly can you fly downwards?"

"I don't know" said Tails honestly, "I've never tried to descend quickly from such a high height before."

"Then it would be faster if I take you" said Yoshi extending a front paw, "take my paw."

Tails did so and at once he was enveloped by Yoshi's magic. Both he and the kitsune began descending at a very fast pace, much faster than Tails would have dared to try on his own. It almost seemed as if they were falling. Yet Yoshi seemed sure of what he was doing so Tails held on.

Very soon they were amongst the clouds again, but almost before Tails had time to take this in they came out below the clouds and descended rapidly towards the base of the mountain. As they neared the ground they slowed down. When they about three or four meters up Yoshi had Tails start flying under his own power again and let go of him. The two of them quickly retraced the way they had come towards the gateway back to Heian-Kyo. At the edge of the large clearing they landed.

Without stopping they both made their way through the bushes and trees until they came to the edge of the island and crossed the bridge back to the edge of the pond. There they found a frightening scene waiting for them.

The Doctor was on his knees before two men who were obviously guards. They were holding swords on him to keep him from moving while a third one was talking rapidly to Lady Murasaki Shikibu who stood nearby with a deeply distraught look on her face, two of her maids attempting to calm both her and the guard.

As soon as they saw this scene Yoshi and Tails quickened their pace. Tails would have started running but Yoshi wouldn't let him. Instead the three tailed kitsune adopted a very loud deliberate stride and, upon crossing the bridge to shore, announced himself loudly.

"What is going on here?" he demanded in a strong voice. All of the humans turned and gasped at the sight of Yoshi and Tails. The Doctor grinned when he saw them.

"Lord Yoshi!" Lady Murasaki said, "Lord Tails! I'm so glad you're back!"

"What happened?" asked Tails.

"I think she's trying to tell you that" said Yoshi, "perhaps you should let her speak."

"Sorry" said Tails in embarrassment.

"Lord kitsune" said the chief guard, turning from Lady Murasaki and addressing Yoshi and Tails with a deep bow, "this man is an intruder here. We suspect him of being a spy."

"I've tried to tell them that it is not so but they will not believe me" said Lady Murasaki.

"Really" said Yoshi, "I'm not that surprised. Just look at him!" Tails didn't have to ask what Yoshi meant. No one would mistake the Doctor for being Japanese. "What do you intend to do with him?" Yoshi then asked.

"He will be interrogated and then executed" answered the chief guard, "and the Lady Murasaki will be punished too for consorting with him."

"No" answered Yoshi, "you will not harm the Lady Murasaki. She is innocent of any crime. She is my friend. Harm her and you will face my wrath." Yoshi stated all of this very calmly but the effect of his words was immediate as all three of the guards suddenly looked very uneasy.

"Lord kitsune" said the chief guard, "I would not offend you. You give me your word the Lady Murasaki did nothing wrong?"

"I would not say it if it wasn't true" said Yoshi, "and I expect you to believe me."

"Very well" said the chief guard, "but this man – " he gestured toward the Doctor.

" – Is my friend and is under my protection" said Tails, taking his cue from Yoshi, "and if anything happens to him I will be very angry." He stood as tall as he could and tried to puff himself up to make himself look bigger and fierce. In truth to most other people it really would have only made him look extra cute, the way little kids look when they try to look fierce. But this was Heian Era Japan, and he looked like an angry kitsune to those present.

"Honored one" said the chief guard speaking in a far more respectful manner to Tails than anyone had ever spoken to him before, "it is not our wish to anger you. Please, we are only men doing as we are ordered."

"He is not a spy" said Tails, "it is true he is not from here, but he is not a spy. You can take my word for that" he glanced sidelong at Yoshi. "I would not say it if it wasn't true" he finished, copying the older kitsune's words.

"I believe you" said the chief guard, "but he is still an outsider in this court. And all such people must be detained until the Emperor decides what is to be done with them."

"The Emperor is not here" pointed out Tails.

"That is true, but if he knew – "

"Then perhaps he shouldn't know" said Tails thinking fast, "if I take him from here now, and everyone present here swears not to discuss this, then why should there be a problem?"

"You would have us shirk our duty?" said the chief guard, sounding appalled.

"I have a duty too" said Tails, "Inari Okami herself told me to protect this man, and that's what I'm going to do. Would you defy the will of Inari?"

The mention of Inari did the trick. The guards all lowered their swords.

"I have your word" said the chief guard, "that you will take him away so that it will be as if he was never here?"

"You do" said Tails firmly, now starting to enjoy himself a little as he saw how he was being treated.

"Very well" was the chief guard's reply and he motioned his men to back away from the Doctor who stood up. He immediately shook the chief guard's free hand.

"Thank you so much" the Doctor said, "it was getting rather uncomfortable down there. And don't worry, you'll most likely never see me again."

"Doctor" said Tails sternly, still playing his protector role, "we must leave. Say your goodbyes and wait for me in the TARDIS."

"Yes master" said the Doctor with a wink. He went over to Lady Murasaki.

"I'm sorry we must leave so soon Lady Murasaki" he said, bowing to her, "but it was good to see you again. Don't stop writing that book of yours."

"It was good to see you Lord Doctor" said Lady Murasaki bowing back, "and I won't."

Tails began tapping his foot so the Doctor gave a last wave, went to the TARDIS, unlocked it, and went inside. Once he was gone Tails turned to Yoshi.

"I guess this is goodbye Yoshi" said Tails, "it was good to meet you."

"And you too young Tails" said the kitsune, "I realize that it is unlikely we shall meet again, but if by some chance you do return to Inari's realm please do not hesitate to visit me."

"I will" said Tails, "and believe me, I was happy to find out I wasn't the only fox in existence with more than one tail." Yoshi chuckled in appreciation but said nothing to this while Tails turned to speak to Lady Murasaki. "I'm sorry we caused you trouble Lady Murasaki" he said bowing to her, "it was a pleasure to meet you."

"The pleasure was mine Lord Tails" said Lady Murasaki bowing back to him, "and do not worry about anything. I am fine. I have a good protector" here she bowed to Yoshi before continuing. "Look after the Doctor. He does tend to get into bad situations."

"I'll try" said Tails. He bowed one last time, then turned away to return to the TARDIS. As he turned past the pond he thought he saw for one fleeting instant Inari's face looking back at him from the water and smiling at him. But just as quickly as he saw it the face was gone. Tails blinked and entered the TARDIS.

As the Doctor activated the controls and dematerialized the ship, Tails leaned back against a wall and started breathing heavily.

"Are you all right?" asked the Doctor from the console.

"What did I do?" said Tails more to himself than to the Doctor.

"You were terrific" said the Doctor, "you saved my life, and possibly the Lady Murasaki's life. I don't mind for myself so much but if Lady Murasaki had died _The Tale Of Genji_ would only be half as long as it was meant to be, and that would be a real tragedy."

"Doctor I told so many lies!" exclaimed Tails, "Aunt Sally would be ashamed of me."

"You did what you had to do" said the Doctor coming over to him and kneeling down to face him.

"Inari said I had to be a kitsune" said Tails, "those guards were really afraid of me. But I couldn't have actually done anything to them."

"They didn't know that" pointed out the Doctor, "and I, for one, am glad.

"Is that what growing up is all about?" asked Tails.

"Some of it" said Doctor, "but it's a lot more complicated than just playing tricks. I'm sure your Aunt Sally would agree."

Tails pondered this while the Doctor returned to the console and worked the controls for minute.

"There" he said, "we're parked in the vortex again until we decide where we want to go next."

"Somewhere quiet" said Tails.

"Oh what's the fun in that?" laughed the Doctor. Tails smiled wryly.

"If you had been killed" Tails asked, "what would have happened to me?"

"The TARDIS would have taken you home" said the Doctor simply, "I've left an emergency program to safeguard my companions if such a situation occurs. As you can see, it's never been used."

"Oh" said Tails a little taken aback. The Doctor's flippant attitude towards his recent peril reminded him a bit of Sonic and his attitude.

"So tell me what happened while you were gone" said the Doctor, breaking into Tails' thoughts, "did you really meet Inari?"

"Yes" said Tails. He proceeded to tell the Doctor about his trip into Inari's realm. He told the Doctor about the mountain, the city, all the various kitsune, and Inari herself.

"What is she?" he asked the Doctor.

"A very ancient and powerful being" said the Doctor, "that's all I can really tell you."

"Have you ever met her?" asked Tails.

"No" said the Doctor, "I'm envious that you did."

"She said I needed to find something called 'The Untempered Schism' and you would know what that – Doctor are you all right?" Tails broke off suddenly.

The Doctor was very shocked by what Tails had just said. Whatever he might have been expecting it was not that and it showed quite clearly in his face.

"The Untempered Schism?" demanded the Doctor fiercely, "are you sure that's what she said? The Untempered Schism?"

"Yes" said Tails, "she said I had to look into it to meet my Destiny or something."

The Doctor stood with his mouth open. After a moment he seemed to realize this and he forced himself to close it.

"I don't believe it" he said at last. He looked hard at Tails. Tails felt as if the Doctor was seeing inside of him with the look he was giving him. Finally the Doctor turned away. "Yes" he muttered to himself, "Inari is not the sort of being to lie. But that's truly incredible."

"Doctor" called Tails, snapping the Doctor's attention back to him, "what's The Untempered Schism?"

"It's something that young Time Lords look into early in our schooling" said the Doctor, "it's hard to describe if you never seen it. It's like a hole in the space / time continuum. When one looks into it one can see, well, Everything!"

"Everything?" asked Tails.

"Everything" confirmed the Doctor, "and I mean Everything, with a capital E - V - E - R - Y - T - H - I - N - and G!"

Tails gulped.

"And Inari says I need to look into that?" he asked, some fear entering into his voice that he was unable to stop.

"Apparently" said the Doctor gravely, "this is a serious matter. I need to consider how best to handle this. The Untempered Schism is on Gallifrey – that's my home planet" the Doctor clarified, "I would have to get permission from the Time Lords for you go there. And that's not going to be easy."

"So we can't go now?" asked Tails sounding a bit relieved.

"Now? Definitely not" said the Doctor, "this will take time. I have to think about this. But don't get your hopes up. The Time Lords don't like outsiders very much. Still they owe me something after what happened the last time I was there, so perhaps I can arrange something. I'll tell you if I do. Meanwhile I suggest you put it out of your mind for now. It won't do you any good to brood on it. Get some rest – I see you yawning!" The Doctor laughed as Tails was yawning and trying to hide it at the same time.

"You're right" said Tails, "I'll go to bed. No rush on the Schism thing, okay Doctor? I'm not in a hurry."

"I couldn't rush it even I wanted to" said the Doctor, "Off you go now, and sleep well."

_Yet again the fire was burning low in King Maximilian's parlor when Tails stopped his narrative. The king turned to his daughter._

_"You're not ashamed of Tails, are you?" he asked Sally, who shook her head._

_"No" she said, "not for that. And he knows it."_

_"I do now" said Tails, "at the time – "_

_"When you first told me what happened I wasn't ashamed of you then either" said Sally to Tails who looked a little sheepish, "you do what you have to, even if sometimes it's not very nice. You know that. Some of the things we all did during the fight against Robotnik weren't nice but we still had to do them."_

_"Hard times, hard choices" said the king nodding at what Sally said, then he turned back to Tails. "Did you ever see Inari again? Or Yoshi?"_

_"Not yet" said Tails, "but who knows? A being like Inari? Anything is possible."_

_"And the Untempered Schism?" continued the king, "did you ever see that?"_

_"It would be getting ahead of things if I told you that now" said Tails with a small smile._

_"These stories are remarkable" said the king, "you're very fortunate to have had these experiences. I would love to have the chance to travel like that."_

_"You don't know the half of it" said Tails, "I've still got a lot to tell you."_

_"That's for sure!" said Sonic, "he had a lot of things to tell us when he came back – and we still haven't heard everything even now."_

_"I'm looking forward to it" said the king who then noticed Tails stifling a yawn. He stood up from his chair. "Until next time then I bid you all good night."_

(To Be Continued)

**A/N - And so episode three comes to a close. I have to admit I'm not entirely pleased with how this chapter came out but I still hope you enjoyed it.**

**Now a new section will begin with the next chapter and I will say that this time, except for Tails' presence in the story it will be a straight ahead ****_Doctor Who_ episode****. Some of the Doctor's best friends will be making appearances in the next arc so I hope you all come back for it. Cheers until then!**


	19. Episode 4-1: Midnight Menace

**A/N - Hello everybody! I'm back with the first installment of episode 4 of this story. However before we get to it I just want to take care of a couple of pieces of housekeeping:**

**1) I changed the table of contents for the story to list the various episodes and which chapters make up the various episodes. This will make for easier story navigation, especially for newcomers. It's really only a coincidence that the first three episodes are all six chapters long (the Prologue should be counted as part of Episode 1). It may continue on this way in the future, or it may not.**

**2) This story's rating has been changed to "T," mainly because of stuff that happens in this upcoming story arc.**

**3) Stitchfan 82 - Thanks for the feedback. I would probably feel nervous around a real kitsune too, but like you I would also trust Tails.**

**4) This chapter contains a TON of DW references! I'll save the list for after the chapter. I did say some good friends of the Doctor's would be turning up in this episode and that is very true, as you are about to find out.  
**

**And as always, standard disclaimer: Neither ****_Doctor Who_**** nor ****_Sonic The Hedgehog_**** belong to me. ****_Doctor Who_**** is property of the BBC. ****_Sonic The Hedgehog_**** SatAM is property of Sega and DIC. The only thing that's mine is the story itself. Please read and review; I always appreciate feedback. Constructive criticism is welcome, however no flames please.**

19 – MIDNIGHT MENACE

_Tails would not continue his story for several days. The king and Sally had many things to do during that period. Rebuilding a kingdom takes time and both King Maximilian and his daughter were frequently away from the palace, traveling around and meeting with the people to see how things were progressing. It was about a week before the king and the freedom fighters were able to gather again in the parlor._

_It was a stormy night this time. It was raining hard and there were occasional flashes of lightning and peals of thunder. Tails had always been afraid of thunder. Although his fear had lessened over the years he still had it and he would twitch whenever an especially loud thunderclap happened._

_"Brrr!" said Tails after another loud crack from the storm, "this night is just like the one that started that horrible adventure in London some time after we left Japan. It was stormy then too."_

_"You never told us much about that one" said Sonic, "how come?"_

_"Are you sure you want to know?" asked Tails with a quaver in his voice. When the others looked at him they realized that he was scared. Sally took his hand._

_"It's all right honey" she said, "whatever it was, it can't harm you now. You're safe."_

_"You don't have to tell us if you don't want to" said the king, "but it might help if you talked about it."_

_"I'll try" said Tails nodding and taking a deep breath, "I'll have to tell it in order though. The Doctor and I weren't there at the beginning. It was only after we arrived in London that we heard all the details about what was happening..."_

* * *

It was a stormy night in London in the late spring of the year 1977. The time was close to midnight and Martin Windham was struggling against the rain as he made his way home after a late night at his work place. Of course the boss would make him work late again; it wasn't like he didn't have a life outside the office. Oh well.

Martin pulled his coat more tightly around him. His umbrella had finally fallen apart when he came up from the underground near the East End. Well, he supposed, that was only to be expected what with the way this night was going.

As he walked along he heard loud music blaring from out of the doors of a local club up ahead and across the street. The punks were at it again with their horrible music – if you could even call it music. Sooner or later someone would most likely complain, then the police would come, and the whole thing would probably turn into a riot before the night was over. Something would need to be done about them.

He picked up his pace. It wouldn't do to be out any more than necessary, not with the recent murders in the area. Eight deaths within two months, on this very street – why he might be standing on the exact spot where one of the victims had died! And such strange killings; it was bad, and so close to the Queen's silver jubilee too. The pressure was on to solve these murders. Another wave of noise rolled over him as he passed the club. For his money Martin knew who he'd suspect!

As he turned his head to look at the club, which bore an electric sign with the words 'The Lab' over the door, he almost ran into the person coming the other way. At the last second he was caught before they could collide.

"Careful mate" said a voice. Martin turned.

"Sorry – " then saw that it was one of the punks from the club who had caught him. Yes, spiky hair, leather jacket, ripped clothes, safety pins, looking like some homeless person with the rain running down him. Martin backed away.

"Hey mate, ease up!" said the punk, "I ain't gonna hurt ya'. Just heading to The Lab. The Damned are playing soon."

"Are they?" said Martin, "well, you go on and enjoy them. I'll, I'll just go."

"Crikey" said the punk, "you look like I've got a gun to your head. I said I'm not gonna hurt ya'!"

"Of course" said Martin, "I believe you." The punk sighed and shook his head.

"Just don't call the cops, okay? We're not doin' nothin', just havin' a bit o' fun."

"I promise" said Martin.

"Right" said the punk, "you get home safe. And have a cup of tea when ya' do. You'll catch your death out here!" The punk turned and crossed the street toward the club. Martin sighed and prepared to continue home. He turned back up the street where he came face to face with –

– Well let's just say he never had a chance. The scream reached all the way to the door of The Lab where the punk was just about to enter.

"What the hell?" he exclaimed. He and the bouncer (who was a friend of his and who had also heard the scream) rushed back across the street where lying in a puddle near a street lamp they found – well the punk turned away from the site and heaved while the bouncer exclaimed "bollocks!" before grabbing his friend and dragging him back across the street to the club to phone for the police.

* * *

Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart surveyed the scene before him and sighed. This wasn't the way it was supposed to be. He should have been well and truly retired now. In fact he had officially retired the previous year – but that hadn't lasted long. It was Prime Minister Callaghan himself who had summoned him out of retirement to take charge of UNIT again – "just until these killings are solved and the Queen's jubilee has safely passed" the prime minister had promised, "you're the best man for the job." Well only time would tell regarding that!

It was a grey morning. The storm from the previous night had blown itself out and the scene of the killing was now occupied by UNIT personnel who had taken over the case some hours earlier. The police had contacted them as soon as they had realized it was one of *those* killings. The Brigadier himself had been called out of bed in the early hours and, like his men, was running on only a few hours of sleep. Not that there was anything unusual in that. It was all in a day's work when you were a member of UNIT.

"Pardon me sir" came a voice at the Brigadier's side. The Brigadier turned to find his reliable right-hand man, Regimental Sergeant Major John Benton standing there.

"Yes Mr. Benton?" asked the Brigadier

"Miss Smith is here" said Benton, "and Lt. Sullivan is almost done with his work."

"Good, bring Miss Smith to me" said the Brigadier. Benton left, and returned a moment later with a young woman at his side. The two of them seemed to know each other well by the easy way they walked toward the Brigadier. In fact the woman seemed to know the Brigadier too because she came straight to him with her hands out.

"Brigadier" she said, "it's good to see you again."

"Thank you for coming Miss Smith" said the Brigadier taking one of her hands and giving it a good shake, "in cases like this the more friends we have the better."

"Of course" said Miss Smith, better known to her friends as Sarah Jane, "is it another one of those victims?"

"I'm afraid so" said the Brigadier, "the ninth one since this business started. Sullivan's almost done with his work."

"Could I see the body?" asked Sarah Jane.

"Are you sure?" asked the Brigadier, "it's pretty gruesome. I know, I know, you've seen many strange things, but this is worse than usual."

"I'm sure I can handle it" said Sarah Jane.

"Very well" said the Brigadier, "come with me." He led her over to a nearby tent which contained a hastily assembled portable laboratory. Inside they found a man in a naval uniform making entries in a notebook. He looked up as they entered and smiled when he saw Sarah Jane Smith.

"Why Sarah Jane" he said holding out a hand, "what brings you here?"

"Hello Harry" said Sarah Jane taking his hand, "The Brigadier asked me to come. How are you?"

"I've been better" said Harry Sullivan, who turned to the Brigadier, "I've finished sir. The body can be moved now."

"I'd like to see it first" said Sarah Jane.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea" said Harry, "it's pretty horrible."

"Why Harry Sullivan!" said Sarah Jane firmly, "considering that we've faced Daleks, Cybermen, Sontarans, and Zygons together – among other things – do you really think I'm too delicate to see a dead body?"

Harry seemed like he wanted to deny the request even so, but the Brigadier nodded for him to let Sarah Jane see it so he sighed and nodded.

"Very well" said Harry, "but don't say you weren't warned." He led the two of them over to an area where a sheet had been draped over something on the ground. Harry took a moment, and then pulled the sheet all the way back.

Sarah Jane gasped at what she saw and put her hand to her mouth. The body literally had been ripped into two pieces, as if someone had sliced right through the victim's stomach, completely severing the upper body from the lower body. The two pieces of the body were separated by about a meter, as if the person had been killed standing up and the pieces had fallen apart from each other. The victim's innards were strewn around the body and despite the impact of the rain from the previous night there was still a lot of blood present too. Sarah Jane steeled herself and made herself look steadily at the dead man before her. After a moment she turned away and Harry covered the body again.

"Are you all right Miss Smith?" asked the Brigadier who seemed unaffected by what he had just seen.

"I'm fine" said Sarah Jane perhaps a little too quickly, "who was he?"

"He was a Mr. Martin Windham" replied the Brigadier now leading Sarah Jane out of the tent, "an office clerk working late last night. From what we've been able to gather he was passing here right around midnight when it happened."

"Were there any witnesses?"

"One" said the Brigadier, "well not exactly a witness because he didn't actually see what killed Mr. Windham, but he was the last person to see him alive." The Brigadier pointed across the street to where The Lab was.

"A young man on his way to the club over there," he said, "name of Geoff Madden, nearly bumped into Mr. Windham just before it happened. The police detained him although I'm quite sure he's innocent. We took charge of him and kept him here but we're going to release him when we're done. I'll probably have someone give him a lift home too. I think he needs it."

"May I speak with him?" asked Sarah Jane. The Brigadier nodded and brought her around to a nearby jeep. Sitting in the back was the young punk from the previous night. He looked terrible, having been up all night being questioned at length first by the police, and then by UNIT.

"Mr. Madden?" Sarah Jane asked as she looked in the jeep at the young man, "may I speak with you?"

"I've already told the cops and those army blokes everything I know" said Geoff, "I didn't kill that man."

"I know that" said Sarah Jane, "I just wanted to hear what happened from you. My name is Sarah Jane Smith." Here she held out her hand and Geoff took it.

"Sarah Jane Smith, huh?" he said, raising his eyebrow, "ya' mean like the journalist?"

"Exactly like" she replied, "may I sit down?"

"Yeah, all right" said Geoff, moving over to give her room.

"Thank you" she said, "now Mr. Madden would you tell me what happened last night?"

"Okay" he said and he did, recounting everything that he had experienced up to the finding of the body.

"And you didn't see anything?" asked Sarah Jane.

"Nothing" said Geoff, "didn't hear nothing neither. But whatever it was, it was fast! It wasn't but a minute from when I left that man to where I heard the scream. But there was nothing. Ya' have to believe me!"

"Oh I do" said Sarah Jane, thinking back on some of the strange things she'd seen in recent years, "I really do."

"Yeah, I can see you do" said Geoff, "the coppers didn't want too, but they didn't have nothing to hold me on. These UNIT people are like you though, they seem to believe me."

"They do" said Sarah Jane, "UNIT deals with unusual things like this. Well, thank you Mr. Madden."

"Call me Geoff" said Geoff.

"All right, Geoff" said Sarah Jane, "if you remember anything else be sure to let UNIT know."

Geoff promised that he would and Sarah Jane left him to return to the Brigadier and RSM Benton who were conferring. The Brigadier turned to Sarah Jane as when she reached them.

"We're wrapping up here" he said to the journalist. Will you accompany us back to UNIT HQ?"

"Certainly" answered Sarah Jane.

"Good" said the Brigadier turning to Benton, "Mr. Benton will you take Miss Smith with you?"

"Yes sir" said Benton.

"Right, I'll see you both soon" said the Brigadier, "dismissed." Benton saluted and led Sarah Jane to a nearby jeep. They both got in and Benton started up the jeep and began driving.

"Where are we headed?" asked Sarah Jane, "to the regular HQ or the London offices?"

"We're using the London Offices for this case" said Benton, "much more convenient."

"So I would imagine" remarked Sarah Jane, "so how have you been getting on? I haven't seen you since the android business at Devesham. Anything new and exciting happening besides the usual?"

"No miss," said Benton, "things haven't changed that much. It's good to have the Brigadier back though, even if only until this business is cleared up."

"I agree. I doubt he'd admit it to himself but he's not meant for retirement."

"Not at all" agreed Benton with a laugh, then he became serious again. "Have you heard from the Doctor at all?" he asked.

"Not a peep since he put me down in Aberdeen last year" said Sarah Jane.

"Well maybe you'll get to see him soon" said Benton.

"Is he back?" asked Sarah Jane. Benton shook his head.

"No, but the Brigadier sent a message to him on that space-time telegraph of his so he might come."

"Oh yes" said Sarah Jane, "I remember the last time the Brigadier used that, during the Zygon incident. Well let's hope he does come. We could use his help with this."

"Yes we could" said Benton, "do you have any ideas on what might be doing these killings?"

"Me? No"said Sarah Jane, "in all the adventures I had with the Doctor I never saw anything like this."

Benton nodded and they drove the rest of the way in companionable silence, soon arriving at UNIT's London headquarters. Once there Benton conducted Sarah Jane to the Brigadier's office, where they found him there ahead of them. Lt. Sullivan was there too.

"Has the Doctor arrived?" asked Sarah Jane.

"Not yet" said the Brigadier, "I have someone stationed in his old laboratory who has orders to let me know the moment the TARDIS arrives – if it arrives."

"I think it will" said Sarah Jane, "you know the Doctor; he can't resist something like this."

"I hope so" said the Brigadier, "I don't mind telling you that this business is causing me no end of headaches. What kind of person or creature can chop a person in half so quickly and yet vanish so completely into thin air? Nine killings in a two month period and we're no closer to finding who or what is doing it. The only thing we do know is that the killings are confined to that one area of London and that they only occur on stormy nights. But why only that area, and what stormy weather has to do with it we have no idea. And with the Queen's jubilee coming up soon, well the pressure is certainly on from the government to get to the bottom of all this. I just wish I knew how."

Sarah Jane nodded at the Brigadier's frustration.

"Is there nothing at all?" she asked.

"There was one thing" said Harry, "we found a highly acidic substance in the victim's body. Highly corrosive; I mean much more corrosive than anything I've ever seen before. One touch can dissolve organic material instantly. I think whatever did this used that substance to kill Mr. Windham and the other victims too."

"Oh?" asked Sarah. "It was definitely on the other victims?"

"Yes it was" confirmed Harry, "the stuff is so potent that it can eat through a body quickly, and if it were purposely directed it would be like being sliced through with a sword. I've never seen anything like it."

"So there's a good chance it's alien," said Sarah Jane. The Brigadier nodded.

"That's seems a pretty safe assumption at this point" he said, "but what kind of alien we don't know. Not the Daleks, that's for certain, or the Autons, the Yeti, or the Cybermen. And this isn't the Master's style at all."

"Or either of the reptiloid races" said Benton, "the Silurians or the Sea Devils."

"It's not like the Zygons either" said Harry.

"No" said Sarah Jane, "or the Krynoid, or the Sontarans."

"Now that we've ruled out what it's not like" said the Brigadier, "that just leaves the question of what it is like."

There was a silence in the office as they pondered this problem. While they were thinking it over the Brigadier's intercom buzzed and he hit it.

"Lethbridge-Stewart" he said.

"Sir" came the voice from the intercom, "the TARDIS is arriving" And indeed in the background they could hear the familiar VWORP – VWORP sound of the TARDIS.

"Thank you private" said the Brigadier. He stood up. "Well" he said, "it looks like the Doctor has decided to join us after all."

(To Be Continued)

**A/N - And that is that! Now for anyone who is interested here is the list of DW stories referenced in this chapter in one way or another: "The Web of Fear," "The Invasion," "Spearhead From Space," "Doctor Who and the Silurians," "Terror of the Autons," "Day of the Daleks," "The Sea Devils," "The Time Warrior," "The Sontaran Experiment," "Genesis of the Daleks," "Revenge of the Cybermen," "Terror of the Zygons," "The Android Invasion," "The Seeds of Doom," "The Hand of Fear," and any not already mentioned UNIT DW story that featured the Roger Delgado version of the Master. It's amazing what you can fit into normal conversations!**

**Thanks for reading and see ya' next time!**


	20. Episode 4-2: Meeting Unit

**Hello! It's time for an update. This chapter contains a reference to the SatAM episode "Sonic Conversion," also the DW episode "Forest of the Dead."  
**

**As always, standard disclaimer: Neither ****_Doctor Who_**** nor ****_Sonic The Hedgehog_**** belong to me. ****_Doctor Who_**** is property of the BBC. ****_Sonic The Hedgehog_**** SatAM is property of Sega and DIC. The only thing that's mine is the story itself and any original characters I might come up with. Please read and review; I always appreciate feedback. Constructive criticism is welcome, however no flames please.**

20 – MEETING UNIT

Tails was sprawled out on a sofa in the TARDIS library, several books scattered around him both on the sofa and a nearby coffee table. At the moment he was intently scanning the pages of a book on robotics and occasionally jotting down notes on a small pocket sized computer that the Doctor had given him. A quick glance at the other books near him showed them to be a mixture of technical volumes and books on biology. He had begun studying the cybermen's upgrader and the roboticizer with an eye towards possibly reversing the process of roboticization. As yet he had not gotten far. The central issue was in the way the roboticizer somehow managed to transmute organic tissue into mechanical parts. This should have been impossible, yet it had been done by both the Cybermen and Uncle Chuck. Tails reasoned that if it the change was possible one way then theoretically it should be possible the other way too.

He had read the records that Nicole had exchanged with the TARDIS and was especially interested in the account of the episode where both Uncle Chuck and Bunnie Rabbot had both been temporarily de-roboticized. Unfortunately, as Tails vividly remembered, the process had not been permanent and both Uncle Chuck and Bunnie had reverted to their roboticized, and partially roboticized states. Nevertheless Tails felt it was an important step and if he could only figure out what had gone wrong with that attempt he might be able to correct it and create a real de-roboticizer.

Of course he wasn't in the library every waking moment. Since leaving Heian period Japan the Doctor had shown him several different planets. In keeping with Tails' request to go "somewhere quiet" they had first gone to the planet Florana where Tails had fun playing on the soft sandy beach and in the warm waters of the sea. After that they'd stopped at Barcelona (the planet, not the city) to see the dogs that had no noses, before heading to Darillium where the Doctor showed Tails the famous Singing Towers. They did not appear to be alone when they were there, Tails recalled. He had gone off a ways from the Doctor to get a better look at the towers and he had found himself near a man and woman who were also looking at the towers. The man looked young; he had longish hair and was wearing a tweed jacket and a bow tie. His companion was a woman with wild curly hair. Tails wasn't close enough to hear what they were saying although he could have sworn the man might have been crying. At one point the man looked over at him and their eyes met. An expression of surprise seemed to cross the man's features but he hastily turned away before Tails could be sure of that. When the Doctor joined him not long afterwards the couple had gone and Tails saw no reason to tell the Doctor about them.

Since breakfast today however he had spent pretty much all of his time in the library. He was so engrossed in his work that he didn't hear the Doctor enter the room and only became aware of the Time Lord when his shadow fell over Tails' book. Tails looked up.

"How are you getting on?" the Doctor asked him, "being quite industrious I see. Have you made a breakthrough?"

"No" said Tails, "I'm learning lots of fascinating stuff but no breakthroughs yet."

"Well" said the Doctor, "these things take a while. Like I said you shouldn't push yourself too hard. The Cybermen took many years to become what you saw. The upgrader was developed quite slowly."

"The roboticizer wasn't" said Tails.

"No" said the Doctor, "that was part of the problem. If Sir Charles had done his work a bit more slowly maybe your Dr. Robotnik wouldn't have taken over as he did. On the other hand maybe it would have made no difference at all, so don't second guess him."

"I don't" said Tails, "I'm trying to understand the concept of changing flesh to metal and back."

"That is a worthy problem indeed" said the Doctor, "and when you have a solution I will be most interested in seeing it. The possibilities for that kind of process are virtually limitless."

"Really?"

"Oh yes" came the answer, "if you can understand and master the basic principles of transmutation you potentially can change any substance into any other substance. You could do almost anything with power like that."

"That's too much power!" said Tails, his eyes widening at what the Doctor was saying.

"Indeed" said the Doctor, "that's why you'll have to be very careful with how you use it. But don't worry. I think you'll have plenty of time to wrestle with the problem later. Right now I need you to put your studies aside. If you'll come with me to the console room we have somewhere we need to be."

Tails nodded and got up off the sofa. Despite the Doctor telling him to leave the books where they were Tails could not bring himself to leave a mess. He gathered up all of the books and stacked them neatly on the coffee table before following the Doctor out of the library.

"Where are we going?" Tails asked as they walked down a corridor.

"We're going back to Earth" answered the Doctor, "but to a different place than Japan, and close to a thousand years later in the planet's history. We're going to pay a call on London, England."

"And do you have a friend there too?" asked Tails, already guessing the answer; the Doctor certainly did seem to get around.

"Oh yes" said the Doctor, confirming Tails' suspicions, "a whole bunch of them in fact. In here please" he held open a door and the two of them entered the console room. "Good" he said, "now then, we're going to meet a group of friends of mine who are known as UNIT. Let me tell you a bit about them before we go..."

So he told Tails all about UNIT: that they were an international scientific and military organization that investigated cases of alien appearances on Earth as well as potential paranormal cases, that he had spent a few years on Earth earlier in his life working with UNIT and even recently had returned to help them with various cases. He had also given them the means to contact him in case of an emergency, and now they had contacted him through a device the Doctor referred to as a "space-time telegraph." Something of great importance was happening and they needed his help.

All this the Doctor related to Tails. He also told Tails about some of the people he would be meeting, especially the Brigadier, his closest colleague and friend in UNIT, even if they didn't always see eye to eye.

"They are trustworthy people" said the Doctor, "even if they sometimes would prefer to use more force than necessary."

"Are they going to investigate me?" asked Tails, "I'm alien."

"So am I" said the Doctor, "and you're with me. You'll be fine provided you stay close at all times. Remember that London is not Heian Era Japan and the people will not treat you the way Lady Murasaki Shikibu did."

"O-kay" said Tails, now sounding nervous. The Doctor grinned.

"I'm putting it more harshly than I should" he said, "my friends at UNIT are quite used to aliens and unique people. I assure you that you won't have any trouble with any of them. Just don't wander off and you'll be all right. Now why don't you help me pilot the TARDIS?"

Tails nodded, spun his namesakes, and lifted himself up a few feet so he could help work a couple of the console panels. Together he and the Doctor plotted their course and sent the TARDIS heading towards Earth. It only took a few minutes before they exited the vortex and materialized. The Doctor activated the view screen where they saw that it had materialized inside a room that was obviously a lab. Standing just inside the lab's doorway was a single sentry who was talking into a walkie-talkie.

"Right on target" said the Doctor happily, "my old London lab, oh and look: there's even a reception committee."

"Are we going out now?" asked Tails as the Doctor did not open the TARDIS doors.

"As soon as everyone else arrives" replied the Doctor. They didn't have long to wait. After a few minutes the Brigadier entered the lab, followed by Benton, Harry, and Sarah Jane. The Doctor's eyes lit up at the sight of all four of them, but especially when he saw Sarah Jane Smith with them.

"Oh good" he said to Tails, "everyone's here." he hit a control and the inner doors opened. "I'm going out first" he continued, "stay inside until I summon you."

When the Doctor came out of the TARDIS and saw his friends he started grinning like a maniac. In just one step he crossed the floor and began enthusiastically greeting everyone.

"Brigadier" he said, grabbing the Brigadier's hand and shaking it fiercely, "Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart! How are you?" and then before the Brigadier could answer the Doctor was already turning and greeting RSM Benton, and then Harry Sullivan before finally turning to Sarah Jane Smith and giving her a big hug.

"Glad to see you here Sarah!" he said.

"Thank you for coming back" said Sarah Jane.

"What? And miss the fun?" said the Doctor indignantly, "because I assume that's why I was summoned?"

"If you want to call it that" said the Brigadier, "now if we're quite done with the greetings Doctor – "

"But we're not" said the Doctor, "I didn't come by myself."

"I knew you would find someone new" said Sarah Jane, "you just can't travel alone, can you?"

"Well, not often" conceded the Doctor.

"So what are you waiting for? Let's meet her" said Sarah.

"It's not a her, it's a him" said the Doctor, "and I must ask you to be gentle around him. He's very young and he's not from Earth."

"An alien?" asked Benton, raising his eyebrows.

"Oh yes" said the Doctor.

"That's all right Doctor" said the Brigadier, "if he's with you then he's welcome."

"Now that's what I like to hear" said the Doctor. He turned around, went back to the TARDIS, and stuck his head through the door. The others heard him say "you can come out now!" before he withdrew from the TARDIS and turned back to them.

"Allow me introduce you to Miles Prower from the planet Mobius" said the Doctor, "but he hates that name so you can call him 'Tails.'"

Tails stepped cautiously out of the TARDIS and faced the Doctor's friends. From the expressions on their faces it was clear to him that whatever they had been expecting he was not it. But he decided to put as brave a face on it as he could and raised a gloved hand and waved at them.

"Hello" he said, "it's nice to meet you all."

There was a silence as the Doctor's friends took Tails in.

"Well don't just stand there" said the Doctor, "Tails said 'hello.' Where are your manners?"

"Are you a talking fox?" asked the Brigadier at last.

"He's a talking MOBIAN fox" said the Doctor, "which is very different from Earth foxes, and yes, before you ask, he does have two tails."

"So I see" responded the Brigadier, "may I ask how old you are?"

"Does that matter?" interposed the Doctor.

"Well not to be rude but from his voice he sounded rather young" was the answer, "do you think it's wise to bring a child here right now?"

"This 'child' as you call him" said the Doctor starting to sound angry, "happens to come from a war torn planet and has already seen enough to qualify him for UNIT itself. He's a genius, knows how to fly the TARDIS, and has had to face the Cybermen when they tried to take over his home world. But, if you don't want him here then we'll just be going." The Doctor moved as if to return to the TARDIS.

"No" said the Brigadier forcefully, "I'm just a bit surprised, that's all. But if you vouch for him then I'll accept your word."

"Well I think you're cute" said Sarah Jane speaking directly to Tails and causing the fox to blush a little. She came forward and crouched down to his level, holding out a hand. "I'm Sarah Jane Smith and I'm happy to meet you."

"Thank you" said Tails shyly, taking the offered hand.

"Good for you Sarah," said the Doctor, "you've always been sensible. Now if that's done why don't we discuss why you called us here?"

"If you'll come to my office we can do just that" said the Brigadier who turned and left the lab followed by Benton and Harry, then the Doctor, with Sarah Jane and Tails bringing up the rear. Tails stayed near both the Doctor and Sarah Jane whom he decided he was going to like very much.

"Are you all right?" said Sarah Jane looking down at the fox, "do you need help keeping up with all of us big humans?"

"No ma'am" said Tails.

"Call me Sarah Jane" was the reply, "I'm not a 'ma'am' yet."

"Oh, okay Sarah Jane" said Tails, "I can keep up with you. My friend Sonic is very fast and I manage to keep up with him most of the time."

"You're a fast runner?"

"Not really" said Tails, "but if I get tired I can always do this" and he spun his two tails and lifted himself up into the air.

"Wow!" exclaimed Sarah Jane loudly enough that the others all turned around to what was the matter. Except for the Doctor all of the other men were visibly shocked at the site of Tails in the air, although the Brigadier showed it the least.

"You just can't resist drama, can you?" he murmured to the Doctor.

"What's life without a little drama?" said the Doctor with a grin before calling up to Tails who was now hovering near the ceiling, "all right Tails, you can come down now. I think you've impressed them enough."

"And how" said Sarah Jane as Tails landed, "that's brilliant! Can all of your kind do that?"

"Uh no" said Tails, "as far as I know I'm unique that way."

Harry Sullivan came forwarded and bent down to try to get a better look at Tails' tails.

"Fascinating!" he said, "you must let me examine you – "

"No!" said the Doctor sternly, "Harry Sullivan, Tails is my companion and friend. I am also his guardian until he returns home. He is not my pet and he is certainly not your science specimen. I'll thank you to remember that."

"Oh, oh right" said Harry, taken aback but stepping away from Tails, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean – "

"If we could stop wasting time" said the Brigadier, "we have things to discuss."

"Right you are Brigadier" said the Doctor, "lead on!"

Soon they were all back in the Brigadier's office where the situation was explained to the Doctor who looked very thoughtful at everything he was told. He asked to see a copy of the full report and this was given to him. He spent a few moments skimming through it while everyone waited to see what he would say. Tails sat between the Doctor and Sarah Jane listening intently to everything that was said although saying nothing himself.

Finally the Doctor threw the report down on the Brigadier's desk.

"Fascinating" he said.

"Do you know what it is?" asked Sarah Jane.

"No" said the Doctor, "not yet. I have suspicions only, but I need to see more. Is the area of the killings still in UNIT hands?"

"Yes" said the Brigadier, "the body was removed but we still have men stationed there."

"Good" said the Doctor standing up, "then if you could produce Bessie for me I think a drive over to the scene of the crime is in order."

(To Be Continued)

**A/N - Writing Tails' meeting with UNIT was a real challenge. I hope it came across plausibly. And yes, for anyone who was wondering, Tails did indeed see the 11th Doctor and River Song from a distance. However since the 4th Doctor didn't see them, and Tails didn't tell him about them, the 4th Doctor has not crossed his own time stream. As for the 11th Doctor it's only now that he'll realize he was close to crossing his own time stream. He recognizes Tails, knows where he is in his life, and also knows that he can't say anything to him, hence his hastily turning away as he did. Be interesting to hear what he said to River Song after that! Ah well, some things we shall never know. See you next time!**


End file.
